Necromanced
by R.J. Sawyer Thomas
Summary: My version of the 3rd book. Chloe is haunted by a dreamless nightmare. Derek is on the brim of the change. Tori is as annoying as ever. Simon has a difficut choice to make. And the Edison group is hot on their trail. A few new characters. ChloexDerek !
1. Chapter 1: Black

The night air was crisp and the gentle breeze was like a god send to my hot skin. I have to admit waking up every night for the past three days in a cold sweat was not the way I imagined spending my rare moments of safety at our "safety" house. But that was how it was. Every night about the same time I would jolt out of a dreamless sleep, dripping wet with sweat. And every time I would come out here on the porch and sit till I heard someone coming down the stairs. It was normally Derek up first, Andrew right after him, Simon and Tori would come a couple hours later dragging their feet to the kitchen table.

It was weird. Andrew was highly protective of me….no not just me really. I noticed it the first morning that I had started my strange porch ritual. Derek had heard me of course coming down the creaky old stairs of the Victorian mansion and the sound of the door shutting. It only took him a minute to come and check on me. I assured him I was fine and just needed some air. _Of course_ that wasn't enough for him.

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"_What happened? Was it another ghost?" _

"_It was just a nightmare." I sighed basking in the cool night air._

"_I'm assuming that you don't want to talk about it?" He growled as he leaned on the railing, looking at me out of the corner of his eye. _

"_Nothing to tell really…" I could see his green eyes shining through his upkeep shaggy hair staring at me. "I can't remember anything, that's what scaring me the most." He didn't respond but his shoulders tensed as he looked back towards the house. I heard a faint growl._

"_What's wrong?"_

"_Andrew." He snorted. And just after that Andrew poked his head out the door. His eyes were alert and …. Frightened?_

"_What are you two doing out here?" He snapped._

"_Fresh air." Derek muttered._

"_Ah?" Andrew looked at me eyebrow raised._

"_I had a nightmare, so I came out to cool down; Derek was just making sure I was okay."_

"_Hmm…Are you okay Chloe?" Andrew asked._

"_Yea, just umm need fresh air you know?"_

_Andrew nodded. "Derek, why don't you come back inside now? Chloe will be fine out here and seeing how you're up you should come and help me with some research on the Edison group." He ended it less like a question and more like a command. Without waiting for Derek to answer he went back inside. _

_Derek's head slowly turned to mine this time his eyebrow rose to imitate Andrew. "mmk?"_

_I snorted back a fit of giggles. His mouth twitched almost like he was going laugh too and then frowned as he decided against it._

"_If you need me, you know my number." He whispered as he headed towards the door tapping his ear as he went. I nodded and smiled._

"_Thanks."_

Ever since then, Andrew was keeping a tight leash on Derek, (No pun intended). He didn't like it even when he was alone with Simon. Andrew was a nice guy and everything but the way he was secluding Derek from us was kind of creepy.

I sighed as I looked out into the woods surrounding the mansion. I tried to keep my mind blank as I starred at the shadows. I tried to remember what my dream was, a failed attempt like always. There was nothing. Just black. I scratched my head at that thought. The dye wasn't coming out like I would have hoped. I faintly remembered something that my aunt Lauren had said once, that it was almost impossible to dye over black dye…something like that…..so I guess I'm stuck like this till it fades out.

_Aunt Lauren_

I hope she's okay.

Back in the house I faintly heard the sound of knocking on doors. I turned around in time to see Derek already dressed and opening the door. "Andrew say's to get dressed and eat breakfeast. We've got quests coming." I stared back at him wide eyed. "Not bad, their some of his friends you know more supernatural's."

I sighed, got up and went to the room me and Tori were sharing. She didn't even look up as I entered just continued to comb her hair while putting on her shoes and making her bed, that girl could multi-task. Grabbing the first things I found and shoving it on I ran downstairs to the kitchen where Simon, Derek and Andrew where all picking at their cereal.

"Who's coming?" I asked sitting next to Simon and grabbing a bowl.

"A close friend of mine and a couple of people he trusts. We need all the help we can get." Andrew muttered he seemed to be lost in thought.

"Hmm." I said hesitating before taking the first bite of my stale cereal.

"Are there going to be kids our own age?" Tori asked as she stomped into the kitchen and grabbed a granola bar.

"Maybe…. I'm sure Jeff will bring his son along he's a bit older than Derek. And if Leslie comes she'll bring her daughters along there about your age."

"Ooo" Tori smiled as she looked over at me and Simon. "Finally, I was starting to get sick of seeing the happy couple and wolf boy all day long." Derek didn't respond which only disappointed her. "Fine, I'm going to the garden to pick something. I'm sick and tired of stale cereal.

"Take Chloe with you." Andrew said as she turned for the door.

"Do I have to?" She whined. "I can take of myself!" and walked outside.

"Yes. Take Chloe with you."

Without waiting for an answer I followed Tori outside. She glared at me and I glared back. After our moment stare down we both grabbed a small bucket from the shed and headed out towards the small slightly unkeep garden.

"Sooo." Tori hissed attempting to make conversation. "I bet you and Simon have been all lovey dovey since you don't have to worry about Frankenstein hovering over your shoulder anymore. I bet Simon asked Andrew to keep Derek away from you. Why else would he be keeping the wolf boy locked up in his research?"

"What?" I snapped. "Simon would never do that---."

"Boys get jealous easy, Chloe, seeing how your new to this. Simon doesn't want you getting to close to wolf boy, brother or no brother. Simon is still a guy and guys mind are just black and white." She shook her head at my apparent ignorance. "Seeing how you and the wolf had all the alone time to spend together on your cross country outing. Simon has to be out of his mind thinking about what you two did together in that time." Tori's head slowly turned her head to look at me, an evil smile across her face. "Well, did anything happen?"

I glared at her, "you need to get a leash on that wild imagination of yours. Derek and I were too worried about getting caught by the Edison group…or worse."

"Worse?"

"Ummm….I-I-It really wasn't anything." I thought about the werewolves we barely got away from and shook my head. "Just a-a-an old man that almost turned us in to the cops. Nothing else really…"

"Damn." Tori chuckled. That was the end of our conversation. I could tell it was hurting her just being close to me. Which gave me plenty of time to myself to think, I was doing that a lot lately.

Simon would never do that to Derek. I knew that. Andrew was just being a jerk to Derek; he was afraid of him but was too afraid to tell him that. So he was sugar coating it with asking him to help research the Edison group. But Derek wasn't blind.

I sighed.

Behind me a car horn honked and made me jump a foot in the air. Tori and spun around and saw a black min van coming down the hidden driveway. Some idiot was hanging out the driver side window driving with one hand and waving with the other. The front door banged shut, also making me jump, and Andrew shot out of the house and crossed the lawn his muscles tense as he gave the hand signal to cut it out.

Derek and Simon stood on the porch and watched the van with worried eyes. Four people got out of the van. There were two older men, one with black graying hair and one with none at all. One middle aged woman with waist length red hair and a boy about eighteen with black punk spiked hair. The punk boy was the driver.


	2. Chapter 2: I See Dead People

"Ooo, he's cute!" Tori giggled at the new boy. "I call dibs!"

"He's kind of old for you don't you think." I smirked looking away; the overgrown vegetable garden didn't have much to give in way of editable veggies. But the lettuce looked okay and there were still a few good tomatoes. Tori hummed something like "beggars can't be choosers" and turned to help me sift through the tangled mess.

"At least we can have some decent sandwiches or salads." Tori smirked as she patted the dirt off her pants and hands.

"Come on, we need to wash these."

"Ladies!" A strange voice laughed right behind me. I yelp when I felt an arm around my shoulder pulling me close. I looked up to see the boy from the van smiling big at me. His other arm was located around Tori holding her the same as me. "You wouldn't be trying to hide from me now would you?" He smirked.

"U-u-uh" I starred up at him.

"Speechless I see?" He said pulling us away from the garden and back to the house. I stumbled but his hand was tight on my arm keeping me upright. "I wouldn't blame you of course." He smelled like cheap aftershave. He was a little taller than Simon, brown eyes and he had a huge smile.

"Well well, aren't you full of yourself?" Tori smiled up at him. I could tell she was really enjoying the attention.

He smiled wide at her and rubbed her shoulder. "You're a firey one." He laughed. "I like that. Sooooo you must be Chloe and Tori? Now which one is Chloe and which one is Tori?"

"I'm Tori. Victoria Enright."

"Ah! Well miss Victoria and," he nodded over at me and waited for me to answer, which I didn't, "annnd miss Chloe, my name is---."

"JASON!!"

I yelped as the bald man from before came running over. "Don't you ever do that again!"

"Ah pops, I just wanted to meet the girls." He sighed letting go of me and Tori. Now that I could see better I noticed that his arms where covered in strange tattoos of all different colors starting at his wrists and vanishing under his tight black selves. He also had multiple piercings, two on his eye brow and than three or four on each ear. He wasn't built like Derek but he wasn't as thin as Simon either, more in the middle of the two.

"You just think this is all a game don't you?" His bald dad shouted rubbing his temple. "This is dangerous, boy, how many times---."

"Come on pop, I'm not a kid anymore!" Jason sighed. "And you're embarrassing me in front the young _belles_." He smirked nodding at me and Tori.

The bald man straightened up and cleared his throat, "where are my manors." He shook his head. "It's nice to meet you girls, my name is Jeff, Jeff Wise, and this is my son Jason."

"Yup." Jason said coming over to his dad and slapping him on the back. "And as you can see I get my good looks from my mum." Tori let out a stream of giggles as Andrew came walking over with the red headed woman.

"There you are Jason. You had us worried when you ran off." Andrew said through tense shoulders. "Ah. I see you've meet Chloe and Victoria. Girls, this is Janet Horn." He gestured to the woman. She starred at us with solemn grey eyes but didn't say anything. I noticed now that I was close up that she was scary thin. Like she had been starving herself.

"Um….hi." I said under her uncomfortable gaze. Nothing.

"Ah well, don't take offense Chloe, she doesn't talk much." Andrew smiled awkwardly, then cleared his throat. "Did you two see where Simon and Derek went to?" He said addressing me and Tori.

"Um…well no."

"We'll go find them!" Jason said grabbing me and Tori again by the shoulders. "Leslie and the others are going to be here soon so you can stay out here and greet them." And before anyone could say anything against it we were being led into the house by him. Once we got to the stairs I finally came over my senses and shied away from his grip and ran up ahead of him and Tori.

"Ah come on girly I was just teasing ya." Jason laughed after me. I opened the door and waited for them by the staircase.

"Don't take it bad Jason, she's already got two knights in shining armor that fawn over her." Tori smiled up at him reveling in the close contact Jason still had on her.

"Dose she now? Lil miss popular, aren't we Chloe?" I glared at Tori but she just stuck out her tongue at me.

"So, Jason, are you a supernatural?" Tori leaned in trying to take the conversation off of me and back on her. I started up the stairs but Jason made no attempt of going any further. I could have gone up without them but I was curious to what he might be. So I stopped on the second step and listened in.

"Yes, I am little lady." He smiled down at her. "One experienced Sorcerer at your service." He said bowing to her and taking her hand and kissing it like in the old corny movies. I rolled my eyes. Tori's face of course lit up, I'd never seen her this happy. But I guess I hadn't seen her around anyone that actually paid attention to her. "And don't tell me. I want to guess." He stepped back from Tori and examined her up and down. "hmmm….." He put his hand to his mouth and raised his eyebrow. "Witch."

"Correct sir." Tori smiled. But before she could continue on the topic of herself Jason had turned his attention on me.

"Now you…..." He looked over at me. He starred at me for a long time, after a minute of starring at me he came up and walked up to the second step to look down on me. "Well well, you are a difficult one miss Chloe." He gave it a few more seconds. "Shaman. It has to be."

I smiled up at him and shook my head. "Nope."

"Agito?"

I shook my head again.

"Hmm…"

"Oh god just tell him Chloe, she's a---"

"No don't tell me!" Jason held up a finger.

I don't know why I did. I wasn't the kind of person who knew how to flirt or tease but I had seen it be done in so many movies that I just had to try it. "I'll give you a hint." Using my index finger to tell him to come closer and getting on my tip toes, I was able to whisper in his ear.

_"I see dead people."_

He stood up straight with a shocked smiled plastered on his face. "Wow, a real life Necromancer, huh? Damn those are rare!" I smiled but turned away quickly running up the stairs away from him. Tori and him followed after me whispering something.

"So lil' miss Chloe, is that why you've dyed your hair black? Trying to become a little Goth necromancer huh? You should go for the dark eyeliner; I bet you'd look pretty hot with a couple of skull tattoos." He caught up to me just as I got to Derek and Simon's door. "I can hook you up with some." He flexed his left arm covered with ink at me, I could see a few well designed skulls as well as many other…_interesting _tattoos. "Did most of these myself ya know. I'll give you a fair discount." He smiled wickedly as he leaned in and cupped my face with his other hand. "I'll do them for free if you let me do them in a few of your _hidden_ places."

I blushed as I caught the vulgarity that he stretched in the word "_hidden". _But Just then the door to Derek and Simon's room crashed open splitting the wood in two and making not just me jump, but Jason, Tori and I bet the house too. And from the doorway a tall dark angry Derek stood, his fist clenched on the broken door, and glaring at Jason.

* * *

**Hey there! Just wanted to say again: I DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS k glad i got that settled. **

**Just so you people know Jason is actually a OC i have that's based on one of my all time favorite media teachers, i just thought he would be perfect if i put him in this story ^w^ (Ah Jason and your humor) ....Anywho a couple new characters coming in the next chapter and a hidden confession O_O.....ill try to upload more soon. thanks for reading!!**


	3. Chapter 3: Monsters

"DDDDDDude!" Jason whistled looking at Derek with wide eyes. "Didn't anyone tell ya that steroids are bad for you?"

Derek glared down at him and I swear I saw his eye twitch. Jason shifted his weight uneasily away from me.

"Oi move it!" Simon shouted and pushed Derek out of the way. "Hey Chloe, we thought we heard your voice." He went around Derek and ignored Jason completely and grabbed my hand.

"Y-Y-yea…" I looked over at Derek who was still looking at Jason out of the corner of his eye. Jason smiled at me and rocked back and forth on his feet. Tori walked over and stood behind him. "Uuh Andrew wanted us to find you…t-t-t-this is---."

"Jason, ya we heard." Simon said still ignoring Jason only raising his hand an acknowledgement. "Come on D, we can't keep _Andrew_ waiting." Derek walked pasted all of us and was down the stairs before we had even started down the hallway.

"Now I see what you what you were talking about." Jason whispered to Tori who giggled. Simon kept a tight hold on my hand the whole way out of the house, it didn't really shouldn't have bother me but the way he was holding my hand….well….it---it was like he was claiming me. I frowned as I realized what he was doing… he was showing off to Jason.

Tori was right, boys do get jealous real easy.

Outside, Derek was standing a little away from Jeff, Janet, Andrew and the black haired man I still didn't know. "Simon, there you are." Andrew smiled, although his eyes still looked worried as ever. He turned back to Jeff and started asking him about some kind of trip in Europe. I twisted my hand out of Simon's grip and stood next to Derek, Simon followed after me completely unfazed by my refusal to hold his hand.

"Hey what's up?" I asked Derek. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Nothing, their just prattling on about mindless crap." He sighed.

"No, not that." I blushed. "Umm…before…Jason I don't---." My eyes were drawn to his hand, it was slightly bleeding and I could tell he had a few splinters lodge in there. "You should let me look at that."

"M'fine." He said through his close mouth.

"Umm…"I started but I could tell that he wasn't going to budge so I just shrugged it off. "I'm sorry about that. I think I might have done something to egg Jason on. I don't think he really means anything; he's just got a weird sense of humor….a twisted...perverted sense of humor."

"Yea I wouldn't encourage that guy too much." Simon said joining in on the conversation. Derek nodded. "He's dangerous…well at least for you Chloe. But I think you could take him D, did you see the way he was cowering away from you?" Simon smiled.

Derek turned to Simon. "He's all talk." He looked down at me but my attention had turned back to his hand. It was still bleeding, didn't it hurt? I heard him let out a big sigh. "Fine, have at it." Derek held out his hand. I grabbed it and reached into the back pocket of my jeans. I just so happen to have a small restaurant pack of wet napkins. I cleaned off the dried blood trying to be careful and then using my nails I was able to pick out a few of the big splinters. Then I held the nap there to stop the blood.

When I looked up Simon had turned away and seemed to be concentrating on Andrew and Jeff's conversation. I looked up at Derek and I blushed. His deep green eyes were looking straight back at me, but it was different than normal. His face had loss its seriousness and he seemed to be lost in thought. I noticed that puberty was finally giving him a break meaning that his acne was almost completely gone. His hair was still shaggy, begging for a haircut, and falling in his eyes. Which I should add, where still gazing into mine.

The corner of my mouth twitched, I didn't know if I wanted to smile or ask him what he was looking at. But I was content with just staring back at him, for some reason it was---That's when I still realized I was still holding his hand. I blinked and let go. "That should be okay for now." I coughed.

Derek clenched and unclenched his hand. "Thanks." He muttered turning his head so he could look over his shoulder, Then more clearly he said "Thanks Chloe." Before I could really say anything back he turned more to side so I couldn't see his face anymore. But his green eyes were still imprinted in my head.

Behind him a small black car came up the drive in a manor quite opposite from Jason's van. A young stern looking woman with short brown hair and glasses got out of the driver's side two twin girls around the age of fifteen followed after her. The two girls where identical, from their short brown hair styled similarly to the woman's down to their brightly colored rainbow knee high socks.

"Andrew it's been too long." The woman smiled, but I could tell that she was tense with annoyance.

"Leslie." Andrew nodded and then at the two girls, "It's nice to see you too, Geneva and Olivia." The girls smiled then looked at me and tilted their heads in unison. There gaze was uncomfortable so I looked at the woman who must have been there mother, Leslie, only she was looking at me too. Now I was blushing red. What was up? Did I have something on my face? Luckily Leslie's gaze shifted, it slowly followed over Simon and Tori coming to an abrupt stop on Derek. Derek returned her gaze without fail.

"Eva! Olivia!" Jason barked from behind us.

"Jason!" The two girls smiled running over to him and hugging him at the same time.

"How are my favorite twin cousin's doing?" Jason laughed as he patted them on the back.

"Jason! You never answer our emails anymore!" One shouted.

"I've been too busy O'." He smiled, "and how many times have I told you, that internet thing is never going to really catch on." All three of them laughed at some inside joke.

"You forgot our birthday! It was last week!" The other one growled.

"No I didn't. But Happy late Birthday! I---." Jason started but stopped when Leslie cleared her throat.

"Andrew, what is this?" She said still looking at Derek. "You haven't told us about….Does Doug know?" The man standing next to Andrew, the man with graying black hair, looked up at her a frowned.

"What does _"Doug"_ need to know?" He said with a very deep intimating voice.

Andrew sighed.

"Now that we're all here…I've got something I want to say." Andrew looked at Derek and then at the black haired man. "I haven't been completely truthful to you Doug." He sighed addressing the black haired man.

Doug glared at Andrew; he then noticed the strange stare down happening between Leslie and Derek. He slowly straightened up and tensed his back. "Andrew?"

"Ah well, I knew if I told you, you wouldn't come Doug. And I need your help most of all. Derek isn't dangerous, he's fully in control. He hasn't even completed the change yet." Andrew tried to brush it off as fast as he could but I could tell by how red Doug's face was getting that this wasn't going to end well. "All four of these kids are Edison experiments, each of them have had different outcomes with their powers. Tori and Chloe's powers are the only ones that seem to be out of control. Tori's spells are far beyond what they should be, and Chloe…well it seems that hers too are accelerating. Simon and Derek on the other hand seem fine. Derek was one of the only of his kind to survive the group and that's because he was different from the others---."

"Could someone please tell me what's going on?" Jason stepped in front of his dad. "What's wrong with Gigantor and Leslie?" He asked looking at Derek who still was starring down Leslie.

Olivia and Eva ran over to their mother, one of them grabbed her hand. "He's a Werewolf." One of them said looking over at Jason.

Jason's head snapped over to the twins, they both smiled and nodded. He slowly looked back at Derek who now was glaring at him. "Ah…well that make some sense. So what's got your hair in a knot, Doug?"

Doug seemed not to be listening to anything Jason had said. "If you think I'm going to stay in the same house as that---_Monster_---Then I was right all along, Andrew, you are nuts!" Doug raised his finger to point at Derek. "Monsters like him weren't supposed to exist! Brainless, empty, mercy-less…MONSTERS!"

"_**SHUT UP!!"**_

Silence surrounded our small group as everyone slowly turned to look at me. My hands flew to my mouth as I stared back wide eyed at everyone but I couldn't stop it and I whined through my hands weakly, "S-s-s-shut up."

**Again DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS!!!!**

**Hope to upload more soon. This story seems to be really easy to write for some reason. I guess it's just what I hope is going to happen in the third book—minus my original characters and my bad grammar—but I can't wait till it comes out! Squee!**

**Also I just wanted to make sure my title made sense. Its ****Necromanced**** like Necromancer and Romanced combined. I hope everyone got that. The word is going to be used in a couple chapters so I was just making sure everyone got it. ^_^'…**

**THANKS FOR READING!! Please review it makes my day when I see comments!! It makes me want to write more!!!**


	4. Chapter 4: Idiots

"S-s-shut up."

I couldn't believe I actually shouted that. My hands started trembling as I saw everyone's eyes on me. "He's n-n-not a….Simon tell him!" I looked at Simon waiting for him to back me. Simon looked at me than looked at Doug his eyes narrowing.

"Mr. Flynn…" Simon started but something stopped him. His gaze lowered. I looked over at Derek who was looking at me, his eyes where telling me to stop talking but I couldn't. Everyone was still looking at me, and Doug looked like he was about to start shouting at Derek again. Why wasn't Simon standing up for Derek?

"Im s-s…no…." I was about to say '_I'm sorry', _but I stopped. I didn't need to be sorry. I hadn't done a damn thing wrong. He needed to know that he was wrong. I felt my face flare up, but I wasn't blushing this time, I was angry. "H-How Dare you!" I shouted at Doug. He looked back at me like I had slapped him. "Aren't we all freaks here? We should be helping each other, everyone. Why does it have to be, surrounded by freaks, that there's still all this prejudice?" I felt tears welling up in my eyes. "D-d-derek isn't a monster, he's not. He's s-s-smart and…." I was trembling all over now.

"Little girl…" Doug said looking away from me and at the ground his face contorted with anger. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"FINE!" I screamed. His head snapped up. "If Derek's a Monster, than I'm a Monster too!" I turned and made a break for it, towards the woods. I couldn't stand it anymore; I didn't want to see Doug's face, he was making me angry, and I didn't want to get angry. I just wanted to get as far away from that man…..I… I just wanted to cry.

_**Derek's POV**_

I wasn't the only one whose mouth fell open at Chloe's outburst. I watched as her beautiful blue eyes filled up with tears and as her arms started shaking. I could see the anger in her face growing stronger every second.

Than Doug started talking; I chanced a look over at him. I could see the pain etched in the aging man's wrinkles and even more in his fading eyes. The guy made me angry too…but Chloe didn't know…She didn't know how wrong she was.…

"_FINE! If Derek's a Monster, than I'm a Monster too!"_

I turned just in time to see her turn and run for the woods. _Chloe. _She didn't have to stand up for me, that idiot….

"Simon, go after her." Andrew muttered. I saw Simon's foot twitched towards the trees but he stopped.

"Umm, personally Andrew, I don't think she wants' to talk to me right now." Simon said hesitantly. He scratched his head uncertain. Then he looked over at me, he looked ashamed as he jerked his head slightly.

I glared at him. He knew I wasn't the kind of person who was good with this kind of stuff. Sure I wanted to help Chloe but…I wasn't very good at feelings and talking….Simon raised his eyebrows and hissed, _"Derek?"_

"What?" I growled. All of sudden out of know where someone slapped me on the back.

I tensed and jerked my head to see who it was. It was that idiot Jason, _how did he sneak up on me?_ "That was your cue Wolf Boy." I glared down on him, he just smiled and imitated Simon jerked head. "Run boy run!"

I looked at Simon but he was already walking back to the house. Andrew was trying to calm down Doug who was just getting as far away from me as possible. Andrew looked over at me his eyes narrowed but he nodded and then returned his attention back on Doug.

I sighed and took off after Chloe's trail. At first I wasn't worried she couldn't have gone to …and then I realized how long and how far her trail was taking me into the woods. I started to panic. _Damn it! That idiot!!_ I started to speed up. Her scent took me off the worn out trails and deeper into the dark trees. _Damn it! Damn it! _I was screaming inside. She was going too far away from the house if I didn't find her soo---.

I nearly ran pass her; I had to skid to a stop. She was sitting on a fallen tree, her arms around her knees and face buried.

_**Chloe's POV**_

I looked up when I felt someone sit next to me. I was about to tell Simon to go the hell away when I looked up and saw Derek sitting there.

"Hey" He muttered. He looked relieved for some reason. "You ran pretty far."

"Did I?" I said resting my chin on my knees. I really hadn't been paying attention to where I was going. The only reason I had stopped here was because I tripped over this fallen tree. I was simply shocked that I hadn't fallen till then. We sat there for about a minute in silence. I was starting to feel uncomfortable and was about to say something, but Derek beat me to it.

"Are you okay?"

"Hmm." I hummed.

"You shouldn't have done that, you know."

"Shouldn't I? He was being a jerk, you're not---." I started but he cut me off.

"He has good reason to be such a jerk Chloe. Andrew was an Idiot not to tell us beforehand that he was coming. I would have warned you…." He sighed, leaning back on the fallen tree.

"Warned me?" I lifted my head up, curious.

Derek took a deep breath. "Doug Flynn….his entire family was killed by pack of werewolves."

I stared back at him wide eyed.

"It wasn't an accident. There were three wolves, and they were blood thirsty killers. The Flynn family's summer house was located in an area that was on the edge of the new pack's territory. But it was close enough that when they…..well….Doug was the only survivor. He lost everything, his wife, his three kids…his whole world…Right in front of him, and he couldn't do a damn thing about it." Derek finished looking at the ground his hands balled into fists.

"Derek…I…" I felt lost for words.

"Didn't know, yea…Doug knows that." Derek sighed. "That doesn't mean I like the guy, but I know his hatred is justified….you were wrong…Chloe, I…I am a monster."

"No you're not." I whined.

"Chloe I---."

"You're NOT!" I looked away. Silence followed and my tears started to flow down my face again. I jumped when I felt the back of Derek's hand brush across my cheek.

"Please, don't cry…." He whispered.

"Why?" I said through my teeth.

"Why what?"

"Why am I not a monster?...I'm…I take souls and jam them back into their rotting corpses, imagine finally being at peace and then---being put back into what is left of your body---what kind of a monst--I'm the worst there is…For once I want to be called for what I am…."

"You're not." I looked up at him.

"Yes, yes I am."

Derek sighed, "Fine." He must have realized that he wasn't going to change my mind. "We can be monsters together." He gave me a faint smile.

Slowly I smiled at him, "I'd like that."

He nodded. "Good." He sighed, "Well we better get back." As he stood up and as he did he rubbed the top of my head like I was a little kid. "Come on, lil' monster." He started to walk back towards the house.

"Wait!" I stood up not sure what I was doing. Derek turned his hands in his pockets.

"What?"

"I-I-I-I umm wanted-d-d to …. Umm." What was I trying to say? Hey Derek I think your eyes are beautiful and I love it when you smile. No that sounded stupid. You're a wonderful person and I love spending time with you….. "Uh…Uh…Derek I---."

"I know." Derek muttered. I stared at him with wide eyes.

"K-K-Know what?" I stuttered.

His eyes meet mine and he slowly he walked back over to me. "It's hard to find the words." He said looking away from mine, instead to look above my head.

"W-What words?" I whispered, trying to catch his eyes again. What was I doing? I just wanted to see his face again…his eyes.

"That's the thing isn't it?"

"What is?"

He finally looked back down at me, his eyes searching mine. "I can't say but---I understand what you're trying to say…I---." He looked down for a second and then he reached up and grabbed the back of my head. A hundred different thoughts ran through my head and my face blushed redder than it ever had done before. I looked down for a moment trying to calm my thoughts. Then I felt Derek pull me close and kiss my forehead.

"It won't work Chloe….I'm sorry." He whispered as I looked up at him.

"B-b-but….Why?" I said, worried.

"I don't want to hurt you," Derek sighed. "Go back Chloe." He commanded and then he stepped passed me and ran further into the woods.…

He ran away….from me….That idiot ran away!

"DEREK SOUZA, YOU GET YOUR WOLF-BUTT BACK HERE!!"

**DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS!! KELLY ARMSTRONG DOES!!!**

**Hey there! I hope everyone likes how this story is going.**

**Review please! Tell me what you think!!!**


	5. Chapter 5: Fathers

I paused at the steps to the house. I didn't really want to go back by myself but I had no choice….I turned to look back at the woods but I knew he wasn't going to be there.

_Derek._

I had stood next to that fallen tree for a good thirty minutes before finally deciding to go back to the safe house. I knew there was no chance of me catching up to him, but I had thought maybe he would come back….The walk back took longer than I had thought it would, I couldn't remember running this far but I guess I wasn't really paying attention. At least it was a nice warm, sunny day….

"Chloe?" It was one of the twins. No idea which of course. She was smiling at me, I just starred at her. "We didn't actually meet before. I'm Eva." She hopped on the balls of her feet stopping in front of the porch steps next to me.

"Uh. Hi?" I blinked at her. She was the same height as me.

She imitated my confused expression than smiled brightly. "I like you."

"E-e-excuse me?"

"I like people like you, sincere and true to yourself. That's why you're special." She grinned wide. "You stick up for your friends, very brave."

"Uh….thanks?" The way she was looking up at me, almost the same way someone looked up to an older sibling, even though me and her were about the same age. I felt a little warmer inside. I could tell without even really knowing anything about her that we could be good friends. "You and your sister… how do people tell you apart?"

She rocked back on her feet. I noticed that it was very hard for her to sit still. Then she pointed at a mole under her right eye. "I got a mole here. And—." She pointed to her chin, "O's got one here. Other than that, our voices and personalities, they say, are different." I smiled at her. She had a very childish voice, one that probably would haunt her whole life. But it was cute. "But anyway. Jason and Simon are on the back porch. You should probably go around, unless you want to talk to Mr. Flynn."

My smile faded. "Umm…well yea…"

"Don't worry; Mr. Flynn isn't mad at you." Eva bounced. "He's….well….Disturbed, you could say. I'm not even sure if he meant what he said about the Souza boy. He was just caught off guard, so his inner demons got the better of him and he blurted out without thinking…." She hopped onto the steps balancing on one foot each time, lost in her thoughts. "But don't get me wrong!" She turned real quick on her toes. "He was very rude to say what he did."

"…uh yea…"

"I got to go; Olivia and Victoria are getting the TV to work. We're going to watch movies tonight, if you're interested." She waved as she ran inside. I starred at her and then at my foot that was teetering on the first step. I stepped back.

I didn't want to go inside…not yet.

Around the corner I saw Simon sitting on an old rocker talking to Jason. "Hey, Chloe!" Simon smiled at me. He starred behind me waiting and frowned when no one was behind me. "Where's Derek?"

"Don't know." I whispered looking away.

"Oh." Simon sounded off. Sad? Angry? "Are you okay?"

"Mmhm." I mumbled sitting down on the steps in front of him so I didn't have to look directly at his face.

"So," I heard Jason come lean on the railing next to me, "you scare wolf boy away or what?"

"What?" I glared up at him.

"Well, what happened?" he glared back.

"Umm, well, he just…ran off." I tried to control my face hoping above hope that I wasn't blushing. I saw right away he didn't buy it.

"What did you dump him? Poor bloke, wait does that mean your free game now?" He chuckled.

"Watch it." Simon growled at him, I heard him get up off the rocking chair. His footsteps hesitated before coming towards and sitting next to me on the steps. "Chloe, what happened?"

I stared at him, I didn't want to lie to Simon but I didn't actually want to tell him the truth either. "He told me about Doug—I mean Mr. Flynn."

"Ah. I'm sorry Chloe….I….I should have backed you up back there." Simon scratched his head. "I guess when it comes down to it…I'm just a big chicken, huh?"

"Well no—a-and yes." I smiled at him, awkwardly. He smiled back. Then looked away

"Chloe, there's a reason why I didn't go after you. I---."

"Chloe!" Andrew shouted from behind us making me jump. "When did you get back?"

"Just now." I muttered. Janet was standing behind him and so was Doug. I tried not to show my obvious avoidance of Doug but I wasn't doing a good job.

"Where's Derek?"

"H-He said he needed to clear his head, went for a run." I tried to lie. Andrew saw through it but didn't acknowledge it.

"He shouldn't be out there by himself. Janet, will you help me?" Andrew looked behind him, Janet nodded. The two of them set off towards the trees with surprising speed. I wasn't sure if Janet would be able to keep Andrew's pace but she did it, effortlessly.

That left Doug standing in the doorway watching them leave and us sitting on the porch nervously watching him. He noticed that are attention was on him and he looked away quickly. I followed suit.

"Boys," After a minute of silence Doug's strong voice echoed on the small porch, "I would like to talk to Miss. Saunders alone, if you please." My head shot up to look from Doug to Simon who was looking at Doug with worried eyes.

"Hey, Doug she---." Jason started but Doug raised a hand to silence him.

"I…I just want to apologize, I'm not going to get angry at her you've got my word."

I was shocked when Simon nodded and stood up. I pleaded with my eyes for him not to go, not to leave me alone with _him,_ but he didn't look at me again. "See you in a minute, Chloe." And he walked away.

"Yea, take care, Miss Chloe." Jason said jumping off the porch and following after Simon who was walking towards the drive way. I jumped when Doug took Simon's place next to me. He didn't look at me just at the ground.

He smelled like motor oil. Not an unpleasant smell, somewhat an improvement from Jason's off brand cologne but not as good as Derek's earthy scent----. He sighed. "Chloe was it?" He paused, "I…I wanted to tell you…." He stopped, and I noticed his eyes became all unfocused like he was having a Déjà-vu moment. He smiled awkwardly. "Ah, I've never been good at this kind of thing." He rubbed his neck. "I'm sorry if I offended you."

"I-i-in all due respect, Mr. Flynn," I mumbled, "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

He finally looked at me, and I felt shocked with what I saw in his eyes. They were soft, sad, and frightened. But I also saw a caring loving spirit beneath that. They reminded me of my father's when…._dad….._I felt my eyes sting and I held back a wave of tears at the thought.

"You…You remind me of my oldest daughter. She is…well she was just like you. The way you care about others and how you defend your beliefs so…proudly…." He looked towards the forest his eyes narrowing.

"I-I-I'm sorry …..about your family. I d-d-didn't know---."

"Don't apologize." He sighed. "It wasn't your fault it happened…And …..it wasn't that Souza boy's fault either….I knew that….I just…lost it for a moment." He rolled his shoulders. "I don't expect your forgiveness for what I said. Hell, I wouldn't forgive me either."

I stared at him, my chest weighing heavy. I didn't see the angry, rude and downright horrid man from before. I saw….my dad---or I mean what my dad would look like now. All alone, thinking that I was gone forever. That he had lost me and that it might be his fault. The hurt in his eyes, the pain on his face, would be the same. And it would only have meant that he had loved me so much that he couldn't let go….

"M-Mr. Flynn…If you don't mind me asking…What were your kid's names?"

He looked at me hurt at first than his face twitched into the first real smile I had seen him give, just as I expected, full of love, care, and strangely hope. "Kylee, Chelsea and Jackie."

I smiled softly at him. "Well, if there anything like me, than they know how much you love them. And even though there gone they know you'll always love and care about them. But you should know that they still love you just as much now as they ever did."

He starred at me, shocked. Then he blinked and looked away. His jaw tight, but his eyes bright and full of unshed tears. "Thank you."

---

_It was different….why? I was still surrounded by darkness, black, everywhere. But now…now I could hear….voices….. And faint almost ghost like images. Why now?_

_This was a dream. It was a dream. A dream. Dream…d-d-dream._

"_Chloe." Simon's voice._

"_Chloe." Derek's voice._

"_Chloe!" Tori's voice._

"_CHLOE!" D-D-Dads voice._

"_H-h-h-ello?" I squeaked. _

_No one answered. _

_I saw flashes of everyone. Dad, Andrew, Rae, Liz, Eva, Tori, Simon…Derek. They didn't see me. The d-d-didn't look at me. They were leaving me, walking away. Leaving me all alone….alone….."NO! NO NO NO! Come back! Please!" I tried to run after them, but I couldn't move, I couldn't even stand up. "p-p-please…come back.."_

"_She's just a girl. I'll move on, she wasn't even that great you know."_

_Simon…._

"_Oh she was horrible! I couldn't stand being around her. She always made everything be about her! Chloe this and Chloe that!"_

_Tori…._

"_She's out of control, her powers are a danger to herself and everyone around her."_

_Andrew…._

"_I mean look at what happened to me because of her? She's a wretched girl."_

_Liz…_

"_It won't work Chloe."_

_D-Derek…_

"_I don't want……__**you**__."_

_DEREK! Help me! Don't leave me!!!_

_And I could feel it. All the warmth….the happiness, which had secretly been growing inside me since I had discovered my powers. All the love I had found since I first gone to the Lyle house…all the friends I had made….gone…because of me….._

_It was like before…when I hid in the back of the classroom….I was just another plain jane that no one cared about….no one thought was special….Alone…Alone…all a-a-a-alone…..but now I had tasted what it was like to BE someone….it was worst….my heart felt like stone and every time it beat my body would shake with agony…._

"_DEREK!" I screamed. I screamed for the only person who could save me. "DEREK! I LOVE YOU! DEREK!!"_

"_**Chloe?"**_

"_Derek?"_

"_**CHLOE!!"**_

_**---**_

I jolted out of sleep and sat straight up in my bed, gasping. I touched my forehead and then my heart which was still going a thousand miles n hour. A dream. It had just been a dream. I sighed.

"Chloe?!"

I nearly shot out of my bed with fright.

It was Liz.

**DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS!!!**

**Ooo Cliffhanger yes?! Maybe?....no? Whatever.**

**I hope everyone enjoys reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. ^u^**

**I just wanted to put as a little author's note a small story about a certain character's name: When I started writing I just made up most of the new characters name's on the spot (beside Jason). What I thought was funny that I didn't even notice is that I gave the name "Doug" to the man everyone hates first in the 3rdchapter. The funny thing is, Doug is MY dad's name. I can't even believe that didn't register. I'm kind of glad I didn't to, because I probably would have given him my dad's description. It would have gone something like this: **_**"A short man with black balding hair, a creepy mustache and 70's styled glasses starred into space daydreaming about football and pizza." **_**Hehe it makes me smile.**

**I also put my REAL name (Not my alias/pen name) as one of Doug's three daughters that died. Not telling ya which one! **

**But anywho the next two chapters are going to really catch up in speed. So I hope to upload soon please review and thanks for reading!!!!!**


	6. Chapter 6: Changes

"L-L-Liz?"

"Yea." Her mouth twitched, her eye's looked worried. "Are you okay?"

"Yea." I took a deep breath. "Yea, bad dream." I tried my hardest to compose myself looking over at Tori who was dead asleep snoring loudly, and then smiled. "I'm glad you where able to find me again Liz I---."

"Chloe, there isn't enough time!" She waved her hands to stop me. "Derek he---."

"What about Derek?" I said shocked. Derek never returned yesterday after running away from me in the woods. Andrew, Janet and even Doug went to search for him but he just seemed to be avoiding them purposely.

"He…Well I'm not sure what's wrong with him. I found him in the woods when I was looking for you." She frowned. "He's bad Chloe, real bad." Oh no. I starred at her wide eyed.

"H-h-h-he's changing again. Liz! You've got to take me to him!" She nodded and stood by the door as I scrambled out of bed falling to the ground and searching for my shoes.

"Where are you, by the way Chloe? Did you guys find that Andrew guy?" Liz asked waiting for me to pull my shoes on. I didn't answer her, I really wasn't listening. Once I had crudely tied my shoes and stood up Liz ran ahead of me waiting with the front door open. "Chloe watch out!"

I ran passed her and slammed right into someone, probably what Liz tried to tell me to watch out for. May be I should have listened to her.

"Where's the fire, Elvira?" I heard Jason chuckle as he backed up blocking my way off the porch. I looked up into his face, and I saw his eyes grow worried by the shock on my face. "Whoa, Chloe what's wrong?"

"I-I-I-I-I-I got to f-f-find Derek!" I stuttered as I tried to go around him. He grabbed my wrist as I tried.

"Chloe, I just got back from looking for him. It's pointless; he'll come back when he wants to." He glared.

"N-N-No he's changing, he's hurting. I need to h-help him." I tried to tug out of his grip, but it was pointless. "P-P-Please Jason, I know where he is. Liz is showing me the way. I need to help him!"

He looked confused. Of course he didn't know who Liz was. "Ok…but let me come with yo--."

"NO!" I yelped. "I-I'm the only one he wants to see right now. If he sees you, he'll get all worked up."

Jason's eyes narrowed, he sighed. "Fine." I stared at him shocked, "I'll give you till sunrise. If you're not back by then I'm going to send the whole house after you, and mind you, Andrew and my pop are not going to be happy with either of us." He said letting go of my wrist.

"Thank you." I whispered as I speed past him and across the lawn Liz keeping me on the right track. The Trees past by in a blur as I keep my feet moving forward. My mind became blank as I tried to keep track of how long and how far Liz was taking me into the woods. Soon Liz stopped and looked over at a patch of shoulder height thorn bushes. I looked at her face. For the first time she really looked like ghost. Her eyes where wide with fear and disgust and her mouth was tight. She looked sick.

"He's right over there." She pointed. "Chloe, I can't go …I don't want to…."

"Its okay, Liz, go back to the house. I'll be fine." She nodded gratefully at me and than just disappeared. I ran around the bushes and saw Derek on his hands and knees, in nothing but his boxers, convulsing and sweating. I tripped trying to get over to him but was able to half walk half crawl over the ground towards him.

"Derek! Derek, are you ok?" I scrambled putting my hand on his burning shoulder. He weakly lifted his head to look at me. He smiled painfully.

"How did I know you'd somehow find me?" He chuckled before clenching his jaw at a new wave of pain spread over him. I smiled back, thankful that he was ok…well not _ok_ I guess but still in one piece.

"It was Liz. She found you and came to warn me." I rubbed his shoulder like I had done last time, fur shot back and forth from his skin. "It's going to be ok. I'm here. It'll be over soon."

He held back a growl, his whole back shook. "Its—Its worst than before." He hissed through his teeth. I heard a loud crack as his spine and other bones started to grow and shift apart. He was changing for real this time. Derek bit back a scream as his body started accommodating the wolf's bone structure. I leaned over and saw his face was already losing its human shape and becoming more animalistic and flat. His green eyes caught mine.

"Chloe…you should leave." He snarled through his morphing mouth.

"No." I glared at him.

"I don't----."

"Spare me the crap, Derek. I'm not leaving and you're not going to hurt me. Just accept it."

His whole body was shaking now, I could feel muscles forming under my hand and the fur started growing longer instead of disappearing into his skin. He chuckled and I looked back at him, his face was contorted.

"Is that so?...."

What happened next I wasn't really sure. His body was going through the last bit of changing. His body started thrashing and convulsing involuntarily. I could hear the fabric ripping from his boxers. I fell backwards, Derek growled in pain. His skin looked like it was being pulled and pushed from within.

Tears started to fill my eyes. I was afraid, not of what Derek was turning into but how much it was hurting him. It was too hard to watch, I didn't want to just close my eyes, I could never do that to him. So instead I threw my arms around his neck and held on tight.

I held onto him, trying to be strong, trying to hold onto his strength. After countless minutes, I felt Derek's heartbeat and I could hear his breathing return to normal. But there was fur beneath my cheek, not skin. He really had changed. I was hesitant at first if I really wanted to see…but I took a deep breath and pulled away.

Wow.

He was the size of a Lion, but looked just like a thick muscular wolf. His eye's shown through his black fur just like they did with his shaggy hair. He was beautiful. After a minute or so, He stood up and shook himself like a dog does when his fur is wet. He looked around, then at me, and then behind him.

I wasn't scared of him, far from it. He was…beautiful. Magnificent.

"Derek?" I whispered. He looked back at me his head cocked to the side. He let out a huff a air from his snout. I was on my knees about eye level to him so I reached for his face and touched his nose gently. He pressed his face forward and closed his eyes. Smiling, I took it as a sign that it was ok, so I scratched behind his ear like I would a pet dog. He sat there for a minute just letting me pet him when he snorted and stepped back.

I stood up and brushed the dirt off my pajamas. He whined and started to walk away. I didn't move I just watched him go. He stopped of course, growled, and turned back to me. He was trying to say something, but he was limited to snuffs and barks.

"What is it boy? Is Timmy stuck in the well again?"

He growled and walked behind me and shoved me with his snout to walk. I chuckled before letting him lead the way. I stopped though to pick up the clothing Derek had left behind before leaving. Where ever Derek was leading me to it wasn't back to the house. We walked side by side and he was tall enough that my hand rested comfortably on his back.

I wanted to talk to him, it was my perfect chance to tell him everything that was building up inside me these past few days. But I just couldn't figure out what to say. Like he had said before, it was hard finding the right words.

Finally Derek stopped when the trees began to thin and became more of a down slope small hill that opened up to the night sky. It was beautiful. All the stars shone through the inky black of the night, like thousands of diamonds shinning down upon you.

"Wow."

Derek snuffed. I was paying close attention to all his movements, trying to translate his every ear twitch, head movement and growl.

"Is this where you've been hiding all day?" I sat down on the edge of the hill. "It's a nice place, you know to sit…" Derek came over and laid down next to me and then, surprising me, he put his head in my lap. "…and think about stuff…" He whined. I smiled scratching his head.

I can't tell you how long we sat there starring out at the night sky. I watched as his eyes closed while I scratched behind his ears. How his noise and whiskers twitched every now and then. I could feel a wall disappearing between us. Like a barrier that had always been there, just fading away with each minute that passed.

My heart began to flutter as I noticed the change. My nightmare from only an hour or so flashed in my mind. I had been alone for so long, that now, I felt so strange. I remembered how Derek's words had hurt me the worst. Out of everyone else's, I just needed his approval. And here we sat. Under the stars. His hairy wolf head resting on my lap.

In only one day…we had changed so much….Derek more than myself on account that I hadn't sprouted a tail and black fur. I smiled looking down at him.

"You know everyone was worried about you… Simon, Andrew and I think even Tori." His ears twitched. "I could tell, she was all out of it, she didn't have you to rag on anymore." I chuckled. "Maybe she's got a secret crush on you!" He growled and lifted his head up to glare at me.

"I-I also…talked with Doug."

He sat up straight his head towering over me. "He's actually a very nice man…underneath, you know, the jerk." He cocked his head. I smiled and then as quick as it came my smile faded. "He…h-he made me think of my dad…" Derek's eye softened, and his noise twitched. Then he leaned in and put his muzzle in the crook of my neck, hiding his face in my hair.

I could feel my cheeks flaring up. His breath hot and his small whiskers tickling my neck. I tried to hold back a fit of giggles. "You dog!" I joked pushing him away. His lips twitched and for half a second showing his white fangs. If I chanced a guess I think he was trying to smile.

I sighed. "Promise me something Derek." I looked over at him, he was staring at me listening. "Don't you ever do that again." His head cocked. "Don't you ever run away again, especially from me." He whined. "Don't….Don't ever leave me again." I leaned over and buried my face his hairy shoulder. "You hear, wolf boy, you're stuck with me. No ands, ifs or buts about it." He did the closest thing to a laugh he could do, more like a raspy growl.

He stood up and I leaned away. With his mouth he picked up the pile of his cloths and walked away. I almost stood up, but decided against it. I didn't want to catch him mid change again and him be naked. Instead, I drew my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. It wasn't a cold night, surprisingly it was about as warm as it had been during the day. It was a beautiful summer night. The moon was bright enough that I could almost see everything around me almost as clearly as I would have during the day.

I heard bare footsteps coming out of the bush behind me. I tilted my head a bit so that I could see Derek as he knelt down next to me, just like he had when he was his wolf. I was shocked when I noticed how smooth his skin was. His hair was still as messy as always, added a few new twigs and leaves from the surrounding trees. And his eyes shone still bright as they looked at me. I smiled at him.

He returned my smile, and reached up to cup my face in his hand. "I promise."

"You won't run anymore?"

"Nope. Never again." He chuckled. "I think I figured out what the right words were…while we were sitting here and I couldn't tell you. I knew the words but I couldn't say them, bad timing I guess."

"Well, you can talk now…"

He nodded, still smiling. "I guess I could…but, Chloe, I never want to leave your side. Ever."

"Keep your promise, and you'll never have to." I whispered.

He still had my face cupped in his hand, and very gently his thumb rubbed away a stray tear that managed to escape. "I'll keep my promise." He laughed.

"Good."

Then he pulled my face closer to his and kissed me. My eyes grew wide when I felt out lips touch. _Oh my god! _My first kiss! I felt my insides do a flip, and my heart beat a thousand times faster.

"I promise." Derek whispered as he barely pulled away from me.

The corner of my lips twitched. "I promise too…." I said leaning in to grab one more kiss from him. "Not to run either."

I heard him chuckle as he wrapped his arms around me. The warmth of his body surrounding me.

"Good." He sighed.

**---**

**YO!**

**DON"T OWN DARKEST POWERS!!!!**

**Long chapter, big turning point. OwO **

**More Conflict to come in future chapters, next one slows down a bit though because its MOVIE NIGHT!!**

**Review please!!!!!! Pretty please with Derek—I mean Cherry! on top!!!**


	7. Chapter 7: The Calm

We hurried back to the house when I remembered Jason's warning for sending out the search party after sunrise. It didn't take us to long to find the path again, and once we did our pace slowed. No need to rush now, we'd be back soon.

Of course the first thing I did was trip on a root the moment we started down the path.

"Watch it!" Derek said grabbing my arm to catch me from falling to the ground.

"Sorry." I laughed as I tried to stand back up.

"What's so funny?"

'Nothing, I guess I'm just tired." I smiled up at him. He looked confused but gave me an awkward smile in return. He rubbed my back, and we started walking again. He keep his arm around me just in case I fell again.

As soon as the trees opened up and the house was in sight he let go of me and scratched his head. Jason was sitting on the porch swing in front. He stood up when we came in sight. A wide goofy grin spread across his face.

"Well what do you know! Send little red riding hood into the woods all alone, and she brings back the big bad wolf no problems." He laughed as we walked up the steps. Derek glared at him. I'm pretty sure he still hated Jason, he had failed with the first impression. "So, have a nice day running the woods did you now wolf boy?"

"Yea, loads." Derek said though his teeth.

I wanted to say something but sleep was catching up to me, and my eyes were growing heavy. So what I did manage to mumble wasn't very helpful. "It's ok….not much…twigs n stuff…."

They both looked at me right away. "Well it looks like sleeping beauty needs her rest." Jason chuckled. "I'll go tell Andrew your back, you two should go get some shut eye." He turned and opened the door quietly and walked down the hall to Andrew's study where he had made a makeshift bedroom.

I smiled up at Derek, half aware of what I was doing. He stared at me, worried I think. Shaking his head he ushered me in the house and helped me up the stairs. I grabbed his hand to steady myself. My energy was draining away and grogginess was taking over. Once we got to my room I leaned on the door for support.

"Your okay right?" I said looking over my shoulder at him.

"M'fine." He said shrugging his shoulders. "It's over now, I think. Hopefully I won't have any more incidents."

"But your okay right."

"Chloe, I'm fine. Right now you look worse off than me, get some sleep little monster." He chuckled faintly. He then rubbed the top of my head like I was a three year old before heading down the hall to his and Simon's room.

"Night...Derek."

He hesitated before raising his hand and waving at me from his now door-less room. I sighed and then opened my door and instantly fell on my bed groaning as I tried to get under my blankets.

"Chloe?"

Liz.

"M'ey'Liz." I barely muttered.

"Is Derek okay?"

"Mmmhmm." I said burring my face in my cool pillow.

"Are you okay?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Good….I'll come back tomorrow. When you're somewhat more….aware."

"Mmhf-kay."

---

"Chloe! Chloe!" All of sudden someone was jumping on my bed. I grabbed my blanket and pulled it over my face. "Tori!" As I hid under my blankets I recognized the high pitch childish voice. Eva. The Jumping stopped on my bed but I heard Tori's bed springs groan in protest to something.

"What!" Tori whined probably mimicking me and hiding under her blankets or pillows.

"Wake up! Janet made brunch! Hurry or the boy's are going to eat it all!" I heard her bare feet run across the wood floor and towards the door. "Come on girls! Wake up!" I felt balled up clothing being thrown at me.

"FINE! WERE UP!" Tori shouted. I sat up weakly winching at the light shining from our window. Eva smiled as she saw both of us up and then ran towards the stairs. I looked over at Tori who was staring at the doorway in disbelief. She looked over at me her eyes wide and angry. "You know what? I think I found someone I hate more than you."

I snorted, holding back a laugh. Her lips twitched into a smile and joined me on my hidden laughter. I liked Eva, but Tori was right. Eva was annoying, especially if she was going to make this a daily thing.

---

We could smell it but we didn't believe it till we entered the kitchen.

"I'm still dreaming?" Tori said as she sat down starring at all the food on the table. "No, wait, I've died and gone to heaven. Right?"

Andrew shook his head his mouth full of blueberry pancakes. Everyone was spread out on the gigantic dining room's table that till this moment had seemed pointless. Eva smiled and waved at me when I sat down, her sister looked at me and nodded. Something told me that she wasn't a much as a morning person as Eva. Derek, Simon, Jeff and Jason barely noticed as me and Tori came in. They were too entranced by the food on their plates.

Since we had arrived at the safety house we had been living basically on cereal and pb and j sandwiches. It had been forever since I had seen such good food. And there was so much of it. Apparently, Janet she liked to cook. Yesterday when she noticed that we had barely anything edible in our small fridge, she had commandeered Jason's van and gone shopping at the nearby mini mart.

For someone who barely looked like they ate at all, the woman could sure cook! Pancakes, eggs, bacon, French toast, sausage and more. "Wow. Thanks Ms. Horn." I smiled at Janet. She nodded as she picked at the eggs on her plate, not looking away from it.

She was an odd lady.

Doug and Leslie were the only one's missing. I starred around as I took big bites of my syrup drenched pancakes. Where could they be? I almost asked Andrew but his mouth was now full of toast and eggs, I probably wouldn't understand a word he said anyway.

"Damn! That was good Janet." Jason said beating his stomach when everyone was done. "I'm going to need a bigger belt. I never get to eat like that at home. Pop's is too cheap to keep good food in the house."

"Yea cause you burn it." Jeff sighed at his son.

After the food was all gone, everyone migrated outside to the sun. Derek and Simon had found an old base ball and gloves and went outside to throw it back in forth. Tori was trying to make her move on Jason on the porch swing. Her efforts were thwarted however by the twins who wanted to play cards with him. While Andrew, Jeff and Janet disappeared to the other side of the house.

I stared after Andrew, kind of shocked. He hadn't freaked out about Derek being alone with us at all yet. I looked over at Derek and Simon and then Tori and the others. I smiled. It was like we were one big family. Something a normal girl would see every day of her naturally boring life. It was wonderful.

I ran over to Simon and Derek and caught the ball as it bounced out of Simon's mit. I laughed as I ran from Simon and tossed the ball to Derek keeping it away from him.

I could see our postcard clearly in my head. How **cliché**.

---

That's how the whole day went. It was like nothing had happened. Like I had never gone to the Lyle house. The Edison group wasn't chasing us. Aunt Lauren and my Dad were okay. And I couldn't speak or see ghosts.

I noticed around mid day that Andrew and the other adults were doing there scheming and planning out in the sun beside an old campfire. I went over to them cautiously. They looked up and stopped their discussion.

"Where are Doug and Leslie?" I asked, still confused by their absence.

"Their standing guard around the area. Watching the roads and keeping an eye open." Andrew said scratching something out on a notebook.

"Ah." I nodded.

"Chloe!" Simon shouted waving me over.

"Go have fun Chloe. Today will probably be the last day we have for free time. Tomorrow the research continues. I'll have you sick of books and news journals by the end of this week." Jeff laughed as he twirled a twig between his fingers. I smiled at him and ran over to Simon.

"What's up?" I smiled. Derek was a ways off still tossing the ball to himself, starring off into space.

"Is it true Derek completed the change last night?"

I blinked back at him. "Umm. Well…yea." I said fiddling with my shirt.

"Cool." He looked over his shoulder. "Oi D!" He shouted.

Derek's concentration broke and he fumbled for the ball. Both me and Simon laughed at his face as he came over. "How was it, D? Being all werewolf-y you know." Derek glared at him.

"Imagine your spine being ripped from you skeleton structure only to be jammed back into place with halfa dozen or more vertebra shoved in there." Derek growled. Simon's smile faded. Derek shrugged. "it was okay."

"But the end result was cute. I mean you make an adorable wolf." I chuckled. Derek glared at me and I stuck out my tongue, "you were like a gigantic puppy dog!." Derek's glare became softer before shaking his head and smiling. Simon laughed. Our attention snapping back to him

"You two," He sighed. Derek looked at him worried. My smile faded to as I too realized how much I might be hurting Simon. I mean he liked me, and I was ignoring him and (though he didn't know it yet) I was growing _closer _to Derek, his brother. "Ah goodness." He chuckled, slapping Derek on the back. "I'm going to go play cards with Tori. I think they were playing Texas Holdem, last I checked." And with that Simon walked away towards the house.

I starred after him for a while, worried, before looking at Derek. He was standing next to me rubbing his wrist. "He knows." Derek sighed.

"K-k-knows? He does?" I stuttered. Derek's gazed lowered to the ground.

"Why else would he willing do anything with Tori?" he scratched his neck, "Damn it." I heard him mutter under his breath.

"But i-i-if he knows than he must be ok right? I mean he's not angry."

Derek rolled his shoulders. "I didn't want to hurt him, I mean..."

"Yea." I spoke cutting him off. "Simon knows that too. Derek, I…I think he understands."

Derek looked at me before faintly smiling. "I hope so." He said putting his arm around me and rubbing my shoulder, burying his face in my hair for a few seconds.

I felt the day start to way heavy on my thoughts. No matter how great it had been to just have no worries, I was starting to feel how wrong it all was. I knew that this was—could never last. We weren't meant for a normal life. Something was waiting for us, watching us, about to make its move. "Hard times are up ahead. We should all enjoy the small moments. It's like the calm before the storm." I whispered, rubbing his hand on my shoulder. I heard him mumble in agreement.

"Yo! You two."

We both turned to look at what I thought was Eva, but realized the closer she got that it was Olivia. "Eva is setting up a movie, you going to join us?" She put her hands on her hips much more stationary than her bubbly sister.

"Uh…?" I looked up at Derek.

"Sure." He mumbled walking over to pick up the fallen baseball.

"Good. Were watching Hellboy 2." And with that she turned and ran back to the house.

"Perfect." I sighed, "Just what we need to get our heads out of the supernatural. A movie full of demons, aliens, FBI agents and magic."

"Never seen it." Derek said walking back to the house stopping a little ways off to wait for me. "There isn't any werewolves are there?"

"Nope." I said as I walked towards the steps.

"Good."

When we came into the living room I was surprised to see the Tv actually working. I knew that Tori and Olivia had managed to fix it yesterday but still was shocked that the picture was decent. The twins had brought a huge collection of movies and a portable dvd player with them, apparently they were movie nuts. Hey we had something in common.

Their planned "Movie Night" hadn't happened yesterday on account of Derek's disappearance and Andrew's search to find him. So apparently they were hoping for Andrew and the others to watch as well. That didn't happen of course. He just waved us off and said he was too busy.

So it was just us kids. Simon was sitting on the coach were Tori sat between him and Jason. Olivia and Eva were crammed into the old lazy boy. And that left all the seats taken but the floor. I sat down near Eva and Olivia and their big traveling case of all their movies. Derek sat next to me and looked over my shoulder.

"It looks like you found some new best friends." He whispered.

I glared at him, and then returned my amazement back to their collection. "Eva, this is…wow."

I heard her chuckle above me. "It's a hobby we picked up from our mum. Old ones, new ones, bad ones good ones. Do you like movies or something too Chloe?"

"Yea. I want to be a director, writer or something." I said still looking through the case.

"That's just wonderful." Olivia snapped, "Now be quite, the movie's starting."

Eva chuckled. "This is O's new favorite." And with that everyone was silent as the battle between good and evil played out on the small screen. Almost halfway through I looked over to the couch and saw both Simon and Jason asleep. I nudged Derek and jerked my head in Simon's direction, my face confused.

Derek leaned close to my ear so he could whisper without being shushed by Olivia. "_He waited up for me all last night. Said he was worried and mad that no one would let him go and search too."_

"_Ah." _ I answered back. And Jason probably didn't get much sleep either, seeing how he had went on his own search and then had to wait for me to come back as well. Derek didn't seem sleepy but he never really let on to how he was feeling. The past few nights I had been so use to barely any sleep on account of my nightmares waking me up. I had felt worn out when I had returned with Derek and probably got more sleep last night then I had in forever. And the best part was that when I had went back to sleep, I had a good dream. Nothing amazing, just me, Tori, Simon and Derek hanging out at a McDonalds like normal teenagers would on the weekend. Laughing and joking about something that had happened at school.

But just like I had thought before, my chest began to hurt with how wrong the peace—the silence was. The Calm was over, and the Storm was just beginning.

A load explosion just like a firework was set off above our heads. Everyone in the room jumped and scramble to their feet. Jason swore loudly as he ran to the Tv, shutting it off and looking around listening. I heard a woman shout. And then more clearly Andrew. "THEY FOUND US! GET EVERYONE OUT OF HERE!"

----

**Hey! DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS!!  
Just wanted to apologize if this chapter seemed too boring or slow. The first draft was much worst trust me. ^_^; but just like the title suggests it was the calm that happens before the hurricane or storm hits ****again.**

**And there watching Hellboy2 because like Olivia it is my all time favorite right now. I just love ****Guillermo del Toro, he puts so much into his work, im just a big movie fanatic I could go on and on. I also thought it would be good because of all the supernatural in it and the struggle: that we can try our hardest to fit in and be normal, or accept what we were and being different. I thought it went with Chloe's character in someway….idk I might just be rambling.**

**A lot of action coming up in the next chapter. I hope everyone likes how the story is going so far. **

**REVIEW PLEASE!! **


	8. Chapter 8: Your Girl

"That's our cue kiddies!" Jason shouted his eyes were wide as he ran over to Olivia and Eva. "Girls stay behind me. The rest of you lot," he said rushing past us and down the hall, Eva and O on his heels, "stay close and follow me!"

We all scrambled after him. There was no need to question him and his newly self appointed raise to leadership. We were far too lost for what was happening to really care. Suddenly a loud crack came from above on the second story. "What's going on?" Tori screamed as she ran after Jason. Her question went unanswered. Everything was happening so fast. The noise from outside was getting worse and Jason's frightened face wasn't helping.

Derek's hand was on my back pushing me forward, keeping me moving. Jason's hand flew up stopping us in our tracks. His head tilted, listening. A bloodcurdling scream erupted from the yard behind us…a woman's scream….Leslie….The twins' head whipped around at the same time as Jason's. The girls' eyes started to fill with tears. But Jason's face was downright terrified. "Damn it!" He cursed. Simon stopped Eva from running back.

"Hold up!"

Our attention turned to the strange man in front of us. A gun held tight in his hand, and pointed directly at us. Wearing a heavily padded, bulletproof vest. "Hold up now. Hand's in the air!" Simon grabbed Olivia who was standing in front with Jason and pushed her behind him. Jason's hand flew up and stopped him from moving too far. "Now now now, stop! Put your hands up and no one gets hurt, that means you blondie!" He said nudging his loaded gun at Simon's face.

Derek growled. I grabbed his arm and tugged. _"Don't you dare!" _ I hissed. He might be a werewolf, but that didn't make him bullet proof.

"Allright, allright!" Jason sighed slowly raising his hands into the air, knocking Simon in the head in the narrow space of the hall. Simon glared at him and he glared back. A silent conversation flowing between them. "I can tell when I'm beat. Hands up everyone. No need to get hurt, just like the nice gentleman said."

Tori's wide eyes looked at me; I could tell what she was trying to tell me. I stared back and slowly raised my hands. Her, Simon and everyone else slowly followed after.

"Now that's right. Give me your names." He pointed the gun at Jason.

"Nick Carraway." Jason shrugged. "It's a pleasure to meet you." All of a sudden a bright light erupted between Jason, Simon and the armed man. The armed man was thrown backwards across the hallway slamming into the staircase. Jason and Simon rushed forward and as Simon checked his pulse Jason grabbed the gun, and with surprising speed disassembled it. "Apparently the feeling isn't mutual. Sweet dreams chum."

"This way!" Simon waved over to the front door. "All clear."

"Good. We need to make it to the van without anyone seeing." Jason paused listening. "Sounds like Andrew's making a diversion on the other side of the house. " He looked over at Eva and Olivia who looked lost. "Eva. Olivia. We have to go, your mom's one tough broad, trust me. She can take care of herself. " Olivia looked up at him a tear slowly making its way down her face. She nodded and grabbed Eva's arm who was still starring off into space.

"That a Girl." Jason smiled. "Derek get all the girls into the van. Simon your lookout. On the count of three. One…..Two…------." All of a sudden something exploded on the second floor. "THREE." Jason shouted shoving me and Tori out the door.

Shouts began to erupt all around us. Apparently we weren't in the clear as Simon had thought. We ignored them and put all our focus on Jason's black van. Tori stumbled, I caught her hand and pulled her up straight. After that, she never let go of my hand. Derek was behind us ushering Eva and Olivia after us.

I tried to slow down as we got to the van, but of course that didn't work. I slammed right into it, Tori included. We both fumbled with the handles and only got the doors opened as Derek and the twins' caught up to us. It was a huge van, with two font seats and two rows of back seats. Me and Derek had just got Eva, Olivia and Tori in when Jason and Simon made their way to the front. I paused as they fumbled into their seats.

"What about Andrew? And the others?"

"No Time!" Derek shouted grabbing me and literally picking me up and putting me in the van. He shoved into the seat next to me. We were spinning out of the drive way before he had time to slam the door. I turned in my seat to stare out the back tinted window, and so did everyone else. The farther away the house got the more silent it became. The only sound coming from our racing heartbeats.

"What the hell….Was that?" Tori finally said breaking the silence.

Jason sighed. "Honeymoon's over I guess. They found us faster than we thought." Jason paused as he concentrated on the cars in front of him. His driving suggested that he was trying to get as far away and as fast away as possible. I silently prayed that all the police men in the area where on their donut break.

"The Edison Group?" Olivia asked from the back seat.

"Mmmhmm." Jason hummed. "Damn, those fellows must really have a lot planned for you lot." He joked half heartedly. "Ah, but I bet dads glad I insisted I was here now huh?"

"What now?" Simon asked from the front seat.

"Well…." Jason started and then never finished.

"You don't know do you!?!" Tori shouted next to me.

"Well, you see, we didn't get to that part in the plan. All I know is that if something happened it was my job to get you kids out of here and as far away from danger as possible." He sighed. "And that's exactly what I'm doing."

"And where exactly are we going?" Tori scuffed.

"No clue." Jason laughed turning the radio on and turning up a Journey's song. Simon reached over and turned it off.

"No clue huh?" Simon glared.

"Hey! I'm working on it! Okay? Anyway, just count yourself lucky that you've got my wheels and not out there running the streets." He turned the radio back on but kept it low. "Andrew will get a hold of me soon. Until then, we need put some distance between us and that so called "safe" house. That's the plan. Get it. Got it. Love it."

Derek sighed. He put his head in his hands. I swear I heard him say something like, _"what a moron." _I rubbed his shoulder. He looked up slightly at me, I smiled.

"Fine I guess." Simon sighed in front of us.

I looked out the window and the sun started to vanish from the horizon. "Ya'll better get some shut eye. We're going to be on the road for a while." Jason said tapping his fingers on the steering wheel to the newest song on the radio. I looked at him worried. From what I could see of his face he was smiling, but I could tell how off his eyes where that his mood didn't reflect the grin. He probably was more panicked then all of us. He just had a strange way a showing it.

_**----**_

_**Simon's POV**_

It was pitch black out now, and they had probably been on the road for more than three hours. I looked over at Jason. The Wise Ass had lost his fake smile long ago as everyone in the van had fallen asleep except them. His eyes were just as wide as they had been when the chaos had started.

Something was telling me to feel sorry for him. I guess a part of me did. He had left his dad back there along with some of his close friends. The lines and bags under his eyes made him look like he was in his early thirties not the young nineteen that he was.

My eyes caught a very detailed tattoo on his right arm. I wasn't sure what the hell it was. Something like a black hole or night sky that was surrounding a shadowed man. The armed man flashed before my eyes. I could remember how Jason had elbowed me in the head. How I had realized what spell he wanted me to do and when to do it. I have to say, for no matter how much the guy was a smart ass, he was one amazing Sorcerer.

I sighed. Stretching, I looked behind me at the rest of the gang. Eva and Olivia had decided to fold the seat back and lay down in the larger space. Tori's mouth was wide open and her face was resting on the window. I held back a snort of laughter. At least she wasn't snoring.

Chloe was using Derek's shoulder as a pillow. He was resting his head in his hand, but I could tell he was asleep. He barely had slept for the past three or so weeks. My eyes were stuck, however, on Chloe. Her face was so peaceful. Her tiny hands were holding onto Derek's arm so gentle.

_Derek and Chloe, huh? _

I wasn't blind. I could see it happening long before they had. Of course I tried to work around it, thinking Chloe might fall for me before she had noticed the connection too….Guess I was too slow. Chloe was an amazing person. She was so nice, kind, smart, and self sacrificing. A lot of things I'm not.

….But Derek was.

I felt some part of me wanting to laugh and the other wanting me shout. I guess me and Chloe weren't right for each other…. At least Derek would be happy now. He was my bother after all, and I had been with girls before where as he never had. He deserved something for all the pain and trouble he was forced to go through. His reward just happened to be the girl I liked. The perfect girl for him.

I closed my eyes and slowly looked away back to the road in front of me.

"Love hurts doesn't it?" Jason sighed.

I looked over at him. "What do you mean?"

"You had the hots for lil miss ghost whisperer right?" Jason made an attempt to return to his normal joking self. His face was completely off though. "And now it seems she likes Wolf-Man. Am I right?"

"So what." I glared. "Chloe and Derek have more in common I guess. It doesn't matter."

"Oh you're telling yourself that now." Jason chuckled. "But you won't be thinking that when they start going out. Leaving you behind…."

"What do you know about it?" I asked him.

He looked over at me for a moment. "Her name was Reilly." He said driving with his right hand and using his left one to pull his shirt collar down so I could see a beautifully scripted name written on his chest.

"Sorry dude. Did she dump you for one of your friends?"

"No….She just disappeared. Her folks told me she ran off with some guy to Las Vegas." He shook his head. "But I'm not sure that's what really happened."

"Why?"

"'Cause, Reilly would never do that to me." He smiled. "It hurt for the first few days though, when I actually believed she would do such a horrible thing. Just run off with some guy without even telling me…. But when I finally realized, when I got past the lies and crap her parents told me, I knew that something was wrong. "

"Well, What happened to her?"

"No clue." He sighed I stared at him, confused, I was about to ask him when he answered my question. "I'm still looking, I've never stopped looking. I know she's alive….I'll find her. I'm a fricken Sorcerer dude, if magic can't find her, than nothing ever will." He smiled at me. "Reilly is what I want. She's the only person I can ever image growing old an ugly with. Watching her hair turned grey and mine all falling out. Arguing over breakfast about the bills and complaining about the weather. And, of course, all the stuff before and after that. It may sound whipped of me but…she's my girl."

"Yeah. That sounds great and all but, I don't think me and you have the same problem." I sighed.

He paused before looking at me. "Chloe's a nice girl and all, but is she _your_ girl?"

---

**DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS!!!!**

**Hey there! This was more of a Simon chapter well at least more near the end atleast.**

**So the Mystery gang are in their black mystery machine on their way to…some mystery location?**

**Did anyone catch the literary reference I made in this chapter? Nick Carraway? No? Am I just a nerd or what?**

**Ah whatever, I'm really tired. So I'll keep this short:**

**PLEASE REVIEW. PLEASE PLEASE !!!**


	9. Chapter 9: Warmth

"_Chloe?"_

_The darkness went on forever in every direction. I couldn't remember how long I had run after the voice calling me, or when my legs had given out and forced me to the ground. There was a thin coat of wet sweat clinging to my skin. I shivered. Where ever I was, be it hell or limbo…I was alone…._

"_Chloe?"_

_I could still hear it calling me. But it was pointless to keep looking for the source. There was nothing here. Just me, myself, and…_

"_Chloe, why have you stopped moving?"_

_I slightly lifted my head up, expecting to see someone standing over me but there was no one._

"_Where are you?" I mumbled._

"_I am here."_

_I strained myself to sit up, no one._

"_Where is here?" I asked. "And who are you?"_

"_Here is the place where you are." The voice paused. "And I am me. And you are you."_

_I sighed. That's what I get for listening to voices that don't exist. "This is pointless. I'm all alone here. You're just a figment of my imagination. And now I'm talking out loud to myself, well at least no one is here to see me going crazy."_

"_I am me." The voice came. "And you are you."_

"_Will you just shut up already?" I started to sob. "I-I I am alone. I can't see you. So that means you don't exist. Its dark…and I'm cold…"_

"_You're wrong." It said faintly. "If you saw me, would you than believe that I am me?" _

"_Yea…I guess." _

"_And then would you keep moving? If I was me. And you weren't alone?"_

_I looked around trying to find the source of the voice but all I saw was black. "Y-y-yes."_

_I yelped and fell back wards as a hand very cold and very gentle touched my shoulder. I spun around and found myself starring back at myself. _

"_See you are not alone." The other me said. She blinked and held out her hand offering to help me up._

"_Y-y-your me?" I starred up at her shocked._

_She shook her head. "No. I am me. You are you." Slowly I took the hand she was offering me. It was cold, deathly cold. As I stumbled to stand up straight I looked at her in amazement. We were identical. No…wait…Her eyes. They were my eyes but they were wrong. Cold, and dead. _

"_H-h-how…who?"_

"_I am me."_

_I was about to speak try to make her explain more. But my mouth twitched almost into a smirk. She had told me who she was….even though I still didn't understand, but I knew she was a broken record._

"_Chloe. Will you keep moving now?" She asked._

_I nodded. As I made my way into the dark she followed alongside me. I keep glancing back to her. But she was staring straight ahead. "Where are we going?"_

"_Nowhere."_

"_What?" _

"_There is nowhere here." She said, than she looked at me. "Where is it we are going? Only you know." _

"_**Chloe!"**_

"_**Chloe?!"**_

_I stopped. The others voices were back. Derek. Dad. Simon. Tori. Jason. Andrew. Doug. Everyone's. I could hear them talking about me. Talking about leaving me._

"_Chloe. You promised to keep moving." The other me said blankly. I stared back at her._

"_Can't you hear them?" I asked. _

_She nodded. "They are calling to you." She looked off in to the distance. _

"_Calling for me? They're leaving me."_

"_No. You are not listening hard enough…." She took a very long pause. "Chloe. What do you fear the most?"_

_I blinked. I was afraid of this. Everything around me. The dark. The silence. The cold. Being alone…. "E-e-e-everything….I'm afraid of all of this."_

"_Yes. But what do you fear the __**most**__?"_

_She looked back at me with her dead cold eyes, her emotionless face. Her hair was as dully black as mine that nearly faded into the background. Her hands hung limply at her side where as mine were cuddled around me trying to keep myself warm…myself…_

"_M-m-m-me. I am afraid of myself."_

_She nodded._

"_**Chloe!"**_

"_**CHLOE!"**_

"_Yes. Until you overcome it, I will be here. And they will call for you. Here in the darkness you think you are at your loneliness. But you are wrong. For I am here. Here in this place where you are. Because I am me….and you are…._

_---_

"Chloe?"

My eyes snapped open and I jolted up. It was Derek. I had fallen asleep on his shoulder.

"You up sleepy head?" He laughed as I blinked in the bright light. The van was stopped. And it was just me and him In the van.

"W-Where are we?" I asked rubbing my eyes.

"Raleigh, North Carolina."

"What?!" I gasped.

"Yup, apparently Jason wasn't kidding when he said he was going as far as he could as fast he could." He stretched his arms before opening the door. "About a twelve hour drive. And you sleep through all of it. Lucky."

"I—what?" I looked around. We were in a somewhat empty parking lot at a fast food restaurant.

"I woke up around six in the morning when Jason made a stop at a gas station. That was about the time he had finally decided where we were going. 'Some where crowded.' Was all he really told me." Derek sighed as he rolled his shoulder and stepped out of the van.

"Where's everyone else?" I said slowly following him a little dizzy from all the sleep.

"Inside, eating."

"Why didn't you wake me up?! Aren't you hungry?" I shouted.

"Starving." He growled still stretching out his stiff muscles. "But I didn't want to wake you. You looked so peaceful." I felt my cheeks burn as he starred back at me. "But you're up now, so let's get something to eat. I'm so hungry I could eat horse."

I smiled, my stomach growling an agreement. "Me too…well except the eating a whole horse bit."

He smiled, grabbing my shoulder and pulling me towards the restaurant. "The best part is Jason's buying." He said his eye's hinting at some mischievous thought.

---

Simon waved us over, they had managed to get a big enough table for everyone. We sat down at the two open seats; there was already food on our plates. "Hope you guys don't mind but we ordered for you. Simon said he knew what you two liked." Jason chuckled as he picked at his chicken wings.

"Yea, Thanks a lot." I said already starting on my plate.

"I like a woman with a good appetite." Jason hummed.

"Stuff it." Derek growled. Jason put his hands up in surrender a huge smile on his face. Everyone turned silent for a moment as we ate. I looked across the table at Eva and Olivia. They looked ok. Eva wasn't as peppy as she normally was but her eyes where lit and she was smiling at her sister as they talked about a movie that was still in production.

"You sure did look comfy all over wolf boy, Chloe." Tori said, she was sitting next to me. "You must have been, you sleep through four states."

"Yea but you snored through at least three of them yourself Tori." Simon smirked. She glared at him and returned to her Salad.

"Okay kiddies, calm down. No need to get snarky. Even though Chloe I marvel at how you sleep through the snore-fest." Jason laughed. Tori threw her fork at him. "Sorry I couldn't help myself." He rubbed his eyes. I frowned thinking he must be very tired after that long of drive. "Ah well, Victoria, you weren't the only one snoring. Simon snored just as loud as you." Then he mumbled something under his breath that made Derek's head jerk in his direction. Jason caught this and tried to shrug it off. I looked at Derek but he was looking at Tori who noticed and stuck her tongue out at him.

"What's wrong?" I whispered.

"Nothing…" He said quickly looking at Simon and then back at what little remained of his food.

---

"I'm going to the bathroom, don't leave without me." Tori growled as we walked out of the restaurant our stomach's full and Jason's wallet empty. Jason laughed.

"Now why would we do that, miss sunshine?"

"I got to go to." I said walking with Tori.

"You don't have to follow me wherever I go you know?" Tori snapped as we walked into the empty bathroom.

I glared at her, and then a thought popped into my head and I smiled. "That's what girl friends do isn't it?"

Tori looked at me with shock and anger. "What gave you the idea that we were friends? Much less girl friends?"

"Well…" I said sitting on the counter. I really didn't have to go. Tori walked into a stall and shut the door. "Yesterday for example."

"What about yesterday."

"When I helped you up after you tripped, during the race to the van. You wouldn't let go of my hand. And before that. When we were cornered by that guy with the gun. You looked at me, and well….I just felt like we were…maybe that we were worried about each other. Tori I…" I looked at the ground. "I don't really think its fair how you've been treated. By your mom and even Simon and the others. I mean under the psycho part your pretty cool to be around you know?"

"You think I'm psycho?"

"Well you think I'm a Barbie cheerleader. That's worst."

"Touche." I heard her agree.

"So…Do you think we could atleast…try?"

"Try to be friends you mean."

"Mmhmm. I've never really had a real "girl—friend." And well, I don't see me ever really having one now that I could tell all my problems to. Except you."

"Oh well that's just so sweet. I might vomit." I heard her chuckle.

"Well lucky were in a bathroom." I smiled.

"Yea I guess---." She was cut off as someone walked into the bathroom. It was a woman in her early thirties. Blonde hair and heavily makeup eyes.

"Good morning." She smiled at me coming over to the mirror next to me to fix her 'face'. I was about to jump down so she could have more room. "O don't mind me deary. I just got to fix the old mask. Don't move on my account." She smiled as she shifted in her purse for her mascara.

"Damn, I can never find that blasted---O there you are." She undid the cap. "So you don't look like you're from around here. Where you headed and where you from?

I searched my brain for a cover story. "Umm. My cousin is taking me and my friends to Myrtle Beach. Were from Ohio. It's my birthday present."

"Oh congrats! How old are you?" She flashed a pearly white smile at me.

"Sixteen."

"Oh Sweet Sixteen, the memories. " She blinked. "I remember my party like it was yesterday. I'd never forget that day." She looked at me mischievously. "That was the day I made out with Bobby Wilson. Oh my goodness he was gorgeous! Captain of the football team. I was head cheerleader. Oh!" She blinked taken a back. "Listen to me babbling about the golden years! What about you? You're a cute little thing, there has to be a boy in your life. A Sweet Sixteen isn't a Sweet Sixteen without having a guy to worship you."

"Oh she's got one all right." Tori said coming out of her stall. "Tall, Dark, a Gruesome."

"Hey!" I snapped at her. "H-he's not my boyfriend!" I glared at her. "And he isn't Gruesome. He looks fine."

"Fine huh?" The woman smiled, "She says she looks fine huh?" She looked at Tori who smiled evilly at her. "Has this 'fine' looking boy, has he kissed you yet?" I couldn't help it I blushed scarlet red, redder than the woman's lipstick stained lips.

"He has!" Tori gasped. "Oh my god! How was it?"

"I-I-I don't---You both need to mind your own business!" I frowned back at her getting off the counter. I glared at the woman. She looked far too excited, like she was reliving her teen years through us.

"O' Come on! A minute ago I couldn't get you to shutup! Details! Details! This is what girl-friends do nimrod!" Tori shouted at me. I just glared at her crossing my arms.

"Ah! Young love!" The woman breathed. Then she looked at her watch. "Well I guess it's good that your getting out of your system now. You won't have much time for romance soon." She sighed a smile still faint on her lips but her eyebrows arched strangely.

"What do you mean? College? Does she really look like she's smart enough for that?" Tori smirked. "Best that she marry a rich nerd right off the bat, than even attempt that."

"No no. I'm afraid neither of you will have time for that." She looked up and I could tell something was wrong. "We have to much work to do now don't we, Chloe and Victoria? We can't let all that past work go to waste now can we?"

Tori's smug look disappeared quickly from her face. My back tensed. She was an Edison employee…she was buying time. I starred at her wide eyed. What do we do now!? We were trapped. She was blocking the only exist out of the room. And we were defenseless.

The woman made a move to grab me by the throat. But she didn't have enough time to see what hit her. She was thrown backwards into a stall and splashed water everywhere. Tori stood in front of me her hands outstretched, small blue sparks tinkling down from her finger tips.

"She looks unconscious, Hurry!" Tori said grabbing my shoulder.

"Right!"

We speed out of the restaurant and made a dead run to the van. Jason saw us coming, noticed our frantic speed he turned the engine on and we were out of the parking lot and back on the interstate before me and Tori had a chance to catch our breath.

"What happened!?!" Jason shouted.

"An-Edison---chick…." Tori gasped. "I—um---I"

"Tori saved me. Knocked---the lady-----unconscious." I finished her sentence. Derek was next to me he rubbed my back as I tried to calm down.

"Damnit!" Jason slammed his hand on the steering wheel. "I guess 12 fricken hours isn't a long enough drive! Where in the world is safe from them? Antarctica? WHAT NOW?"

"Jason calm down---." Simon started but a cell phone rang cutting him off. "When did you have a cell phone?"

Jason pulled out a small grey phone from a compartment under the dashboard. "It's an emergency cell phone that can't be tracked. It's how Andrew was going to get a hold of us, dufus." Jason growled flipping open the phone. "Andrew is everyone okay?.....Good!...Were in North Carolina…Yea yea I know but we just ran into some of those Edison bastards…Yea we're okay…Really?...So no no Wait! I have to make the whole trip back up there? Isn't closer worse?...Yea….well….Andy you don't get it! I'm tired!!....Yea…Yea I can do that but….Yea well…Oh well that's news….FINE! You owe me Big time." And he hung up the phone.

"Looks like we're headed to New York. The Big Apple, baby….And Ten hours more of a drive." He sighed.

"Why are we going to New York?" Simon asked.

"Is our mom okay?" Eva asked from the back seat.

"Leslie is okay. She got a few scars and scrapes, but she'll make it." He gave her a big thumbs up. Both the girls sighed in unison. "As for New York. It's crowded, so the Edison group we'll have less a chance of making a move. And two we just got ourselves a powerful and by powerful I mean very rich new ally who's set us up with a "real" safe secret base. Very James Bond." He gave another long sigh and then turned the radio up. "So sit tight kiddies. And get comfortable."

I looked up at Derek who looked worried.

"I don't think he's telling us everything." I whispered to him. He looked down at me with a frown.

"He did. I heard the other half of the conversation; he's telling us what he knows." Normally I would have accepted that much, except for the frown. I knew something was wrong cause of how he was looking at me.

"_Derek._" I hissed. He shrugged and looked out the window. Sometimes I wish I had super human werewolf hearing…

I glared at him for a long time before catching his hand twitch out the corner of my eye. I sighed. Thinking of how shocked Tori had been when she had discovered me and Derek had kissed. Did that automatically label us as boyfriend and girlfriend? I had never done this before, how would I know? Didn't we have to go on a date before we were considered "going out"? Like I said I was all new to this. I raged war with myself for a few more seconds before I grabbed his hand. I smiled as I felt his hand mold to fit around mine.

I looked up to see him looking at me. His eyes were soft as his thumb stroked the top of my hand. I smiled at him before resting my head on his shoulder. Our attention both turned out the window as we watched North Carolina disappear behind us. And time just seemed to slip away.

Was this what it feels like?

I smiled at the warmth growing in my chest.

----

**HOWDY!**

**DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS…Sadly T_T**

**O wow. This is a long chapter. Phew! **

**The beginning of this chapter is based on a dream I had when I was going through a rough spot. Basically there was another me, who keep telling me that she wasn't me that she was her. It was very confusing. But it made sense. Chloe is afraid of what she can do, who she is. The other Chloe was trying to get her to realize who she was. "I am me. And you are you." You can't change that. Only learn to keep moving and not let the fear stop you from moving forward. Always keep moving forward never backwards. :D**

**Reviews make Derek happy….Don't you want to make Derek happy? -_o?**


	10. Chapter 10: Clark Kent

"Well you wanted crowded." Tori said as Jason honked his horn loudly at the taxi in front of him.

"Why do they let idiots like this have a license?" Jason cursed.

"Why indeed." Derek mumbled. Simon laughed and Jason shouted a few choice swear words at the driver in front of us and I imagine that a few of them were directed at Derek's snide remark.

"This is New York all right." Tori smiled as the Taxi driver flipped off Jason. "I love it here."

"Look at all the shops!" Eva shouted from the back seat.

"Can we go in a few?" Olivia smiled widely.

"Absolutely not!" Jason growled. He honked his horn one more time before throwing his hands up in the air. "I give up. I don't have the patience for this. Next parking structure we see were ditching this thing."

"You're going to ditch your van?" Olivia said shocked from the back. "You love this van."

"Yea well I love myself more. And the way this traffic is going….I just want to get to this place as fast as possible and this van isn't going to get us there." Just then he spotted a parking garage for a hotel, he turned in and was brought to a stop by the guards man. Derek grabbed the hood of my coat and shoved it quickly over my head.

"Wh--?"

"Still a wanted kidnappie remember?" Derek whispered barely auditable. I nodded and tried to make it look like I was asleep, covering more of my face with Derek's shoulder. I heard Jason lower his window as someone came up to his side of the car.

"Howdy there. How much is it for five nights here?" Jason said in a calm convincing voice.

"Well, this garage is for quest to the hotel only. I need to see some identification." The guard asked.

"Ah ok," he said reaching into his wallet. "Well, we haven't actually bought rooms yet, it was a surprise you see for my little brother," He reached over and rubbed Simon's head. "It's the squirts birthday tomorrow. So we brought him and all his school buddies." Jason handed him his lisnces. "The folks are right behind us."

The guard man nodded. "Okay Mr. Ford. There's a thirty dollar parking fee." Jason reached over to the glove box and pulled out a wad of tens and passed three of them to the man. "Thank you sir." The guard said as he gave Jason a parking pass to put on the dashboard. "Enjoy your stay."

"That we will." Jason said as he drove to the first parking spot he saw.

"Mr. Ford?" Simon said unbuckling his seat belt.

"That's Jim Josephus Ford to you!" Jason smiled as he reached back into the dashboard to retrieve more money. "I've got a whole bunch of fake id's. I know it might be hard to believe but I had a real rebellious youth." He tossed a pair of glasses into the back seat at me. I jumped as I tried to catch it. I failed and Derek had to reach under his seat to find them. "I'm not sure how much news exposure there is on your alleged disappearance, but I don't think just the black hair will cut it."

"So you want her to stumble around with these instead?" Derek said looking over the glasses. They weren't that bad looking just a simple black rim and thin piece of glass. "They can't make that big of a difference." He said putting them on my face. I blinked and looked up at him.

"Well it did for Superman and Clark Kent." Jason said leaning back in his seat to look at me. "Their my mom's, they shouldn't be that thick you should be able to see?" I nodded. I could see as long as I didn't strain to look beyond the glasses range of vision. "Good and it won't be for more than a few hours anyway. Well haul out kids! The big apple awaits!"

I stumbled as I got out and the glasses nearly fell off my face. I'd have to be careful I didn't break them.

"Hey, you look cute with glasses." Eva said as she bounced out after me.

"She always look's cute." Tori said in a mocking tone. "Chloe's so cute, oh Chloe Chloe Chloe!" She whined as we walked out onto the streets, people crowding the sidewalks and caused us to walk closer to each other than we all would have liked.

"Well maybe if you wipe that growl off your face than someone would make complements on you." Simon laughed, Tori was jammed right up on his shoulder. She elbowed him in the ribs. I saw him laugh it off but saw his eye twitch from pain. Eva and Olivia stayed super close to Jason, taking the lead with them on his left and right. Which meant that me, Derek, Simon and Tori followed behind them.

"Keep close kids. We've got a ways of a walk, and I want us all to make it there." Jason said. "And keep an eye on your wallets, this place has a lot of grabby people."

"Oh! Jason look at those t-shirts! I want one!" Eva said pulling on his arm.

"My dear, I think that you are forgetting our primary objectives. Taking time to look and shop is not one of them." He smiled. Eva frowned but continued walking.

I had been to New York before, but always with my father or someone he trusted, someone I knew was in control. Now that I was here, on the run and surrounded by people who were just as scared as me. I could feel the gravity of this place. Surrounded by hundreds of strangers, any of which could be working with the Edison group or would recognize me from my half a billion dollar wanted award.

The lights, the sounds, the smells, it was starting to get overwhelming. I felt my head getting fuzzy and getting dizzy. I looked around for the others, and my heart banged hard in my chest when I noticed that I was separated by a few people.

_**DEREK'S POV**_

It took me longer than it should have. This damn city smelled horrible and was messing with my nose. I looked around and saw that Chloe wasn't there. Damn. I stopped and searched for her. It didn't take me long, she had fallen slightly behind and only a small crowd was in between me and her. Good. I suppressed a sigh.

She looked panicked. Her eyes where wide, and full of tears. She looked unstable almost like she was going to fall down. I caught her attention with my hand trying to calm her down. It worked in a way. Her eyes became less wide and she followed the crowd waiting to make it over to me. The rest of our group was a bit ahead of us, Simon had noticed when I stopped and was waiting with the rest of the merry band at the entrance to a café.

Chloe finally got pass everyone and literally collapsed on me.

"I'm so s-s-s-sor----." She started.

"Hey, there's nothing to be sorry about." I chuckled. She was such an idiot. Always putting the blame on her-self. She blinked up at me a few tears all ready falling on her face. I reached up and tried to stroke them off but those stupid glasses got in the way. They made her eyes look slightly bigger, only exaggerating her beautiful blue eyes. "You just need to be more careful."

"O-okay." She smiled as she caught the slight warning to the last part.

I stared down at her, lost in her eyes, her cheeks still wet from her panic attack. I felt the corners of my lips twitch into a smile. "You just stay close to me okay? I'll do the rest of the thinking."

I don't really know why I did it. I guess it was an impulse. I grabbed her hand like she had grabbed mine back in the van hours ago. It just felt so right. I had never held anyone's hand before like this. Her hands were so small, so gentle.

She smiled back at me. Why was everything turning out so perfect? I had always been afraid of these kind of things. So use to hiding from people, locking everyone out and appearing indifferent. And yet here she was. Pushing me to the front.

So there it was. Me and her walking hand and hand towards the others. None of them really took notice. They just smiled when we got close enough and continued down the block. Like nothing was out of place. She squeezed my hand. I looked down at her.

I could use to this.

_**CHLOE'S POV**_

I felt calmer, more relaxed now that I was walking with Derek and holding his hand. Everything seemed all right but of course, it never really was.

Just then a raggedy looking homeless woman pushed her way to stand right in front of me. Her crooked dirty finger pointing directly in between my eyes. I heard Derek growl beside me, Simon, Tori, Jason and the girls stopped to form a protective circle around us.

"Umm, is there something wrong Miss?" I heard Jason ask his voice tense. I tried to speak but I was caught by the woman's gaze. She had cataracts and her eyes looked faded almost dead….just like the other me had looked in my dream. But I wasn't in a dream. I could feel the warmth in Derek's hand. I wasn't alone.

Her crooked finger shook as she lowered her hand to point at my necklace. "The devils minon's walk the earth and call forth his power to bring those once dead to live once more." She said in an other worldy voice. "You are the devils work! Here to bring death to us all!" I blinked, grabbing at my necklace almost like I was protecting it.

Derek stepped in front of me. "Hey lady, we don't want any trouble." She glared shocked at him. Her accusing finger swung around to point at all of the others in turn.

"All of you! Mark me, you will be the end of this world! Witches and beasts! And demon's such as her!" She strained to see behind Derek to look at me. "Your end is near!"

"Okay lady that's enough now." Jason said motioning for Derek to go around her, she almost side stepped to block us but Jason put his hand on her shoulder. "Unless you want me to make this more difficult?" She gasped and starred blanked eyed into space. Jason must be putting her under a spell. Derek pulled me around her and Jason ushered us to hurry almost run down the rest of the block.

We stopped at bench next to what looked like a park. I sat down on the bench still gripping my necklace.

"What was that all about?" Tori said looking back making sure the lady wasn't following us.

"Just a crazy homeless lady. Probably too much booze." Jason sighed.

"That was an awesome spell Jason!" Eva smilled.

"All in a day's work." Jason smiled at her.

"I have to admit. You may be brainless in some areas, but you've got your magic tied down." Simon laughed.

"Why do you think Andrew would leave you in my care? I might not always have a plan but I'm always a step ahead on my ma….gic….." Jason straightened up suddenly. His muscles tensing and his eye's glaring into the darkness. "Hey…wolf boy…You don't smell anything … odd do you?"

Derek looked over in the direction Jason was gazing. "I can't smell right, this city reeks of everything. I can't distinguish one from the other, it's such a mess."

"Damn, I thought that might be the case…We need to move, now!" Jason said ushering everyone to follow.

"What's going on?" Tori asked shocked.

"We've got company." Jason said his face becoming frantic as we started to run down the fence of the park.

"The Edison group?" Olivia and Eva said at the same time.

"No worse…" Jason started, but a branch broke from over the fence and a blur of something jumped right in front of us. That something turned out to be a someone….

"Oh much worse." Liam growled as he straightened up brushing off a few lose twigs on his jacket.

**HEY! DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS!!!**

**Sorry for the wait I know that I normally update every Friday or Saturday but it's my schools spring break and I went home and we have no internet! I finally got to a friends and she has wifi so yey yeyeyey!!! **

**Here's how the stories going so far I have all the story played out in my head up to the next two chapters and then…im not sure how I want to end it…So those one's might take longer to think about.**

**But anywho ENJOY AND REVIEW!!**


	11. Chapter 11: New Friends

Derek's growl made Simon jump.

"Who is this?" Simon said looking from Jason to Derek.

"Hey there pup!" Liam smiled wickedly at Derek, his sinister eyes falling to me. "And little miss cutie. The glasses are new. Can't say I like them very much. Oh it seems you've made a lot of new friends." I stared back at him my heart sinking. This was the last thing we needed to run into, werewolves. If Liam was here Ramon couldn't be too far off. I looked around but my dull human hearing and sight did nothing to help.

"We don't want any trouble." Jason said with a warning.

"Ah well my toil doesn't concern you, Now does it?" He smiled wickedly, "this is between me, the pup and the little girl. The rest of you can be on your merry way." Liam growled.

"Like hell we're going to do that!" Simon snapped, "Who is this guy Derek?"

"Liam…" Derek growled, "Is a rouge werewolf. Me and Chloe ran into him when we're separated from you and Tori.

"What?" Simon looked shocked and his attention focused on Laim. "You failed to mention that bro."

"I was hoping I would never need to." Derek growled.

"Oh don't be so mean." Liam smiled, "Derek now was it? I think 'Idiot' suits you better." His smile faded and took on a more sinister look. "I have a score to settle with you two. And I'll be damned if I let an idiot and a child best me."

"W-Where's your buddy Ramon? Did he ditch you or are you hoping to surprise us?" I said finally speaking up. My confidence fading as soon as I found it. Laim's eyes narrowed. Derek pushed me behind him.

"He's dead thanks to you two." His voice was becoming much harsher almost animal like. "I barely escaped from the pack with my pelt still on. But once I drag the idiot back to them and explain how it was really him who had done all the killings, then I'll be free as a bird."

"Sorry to disappoint you but this idiot is under my care." Jason said stepping in front of Derek. Derek looked at him shocked. "So there will be no dragging of anyone to anywhere. Not while I'm still here."

"That can be easily arranged." Laim smiled his teeth sharp and pearly white in the night. Liam took one threatening step forward and a blast of light erupted from the spot his foot was, making him jump back. "Ah, a little warlock eh? Not that scary." He jumped forward and Jason stumbled to get out of the way.

"Watch it!" Jason shouted, his spell grazing Liam shoulder. Derek growled at him and pushed Jason and me out of the way knocking Liam back. I stumbled nearly falling but someone grabbed my arm, it was Tori.

"This is my problem." Derek said blocking Liam from everyone else. "Your fight is with me."

Liam smiled wickedly. "Now that's what I'm talking about." His eye's shifted to me, now standing off with Tori. He licked his lips and sprang forward at first like he was going to attack Derek again but then at the last second charged at me. Everything slowed down. What could I do? I couldn't help fight like Jason and Derek could. My powers were pointless. And right now I was being attacked by a werewolf. Being a witch would come in very handy right about----

Liam was forced backwards by what looked like shower of blue lightning. I looked over at Tori her hands out stretched her eyes wide. Liam's head made a loud crack when it made contact with the ground. She let out a deep breath, like she had been holding it forever. Her knees shaking, "You okay?" She said weakly.

I nodded. "Are you okay?"

She gasped, "I've never fought a werewolf before…that took a lot out of me."

Liam shook his head and stood up as quick as he could. Derek didn't waste time, he broad sided him and knocked him even further back. "Damn," Liam said back stepping and rubbing his head, a trickle of blood on his forehead. "Well, you kids are just full of surprises now aren't you?" Derek stood ready for his next attack, but Liam was addressing how outnumbered he was looking at our group with a sense of confusion. "So what? You don't have a pack but you associate yourself with a group of witches and Warlocks?" He growled at Derek. "Your own kind not good enough for you? Who do you think you are?" He spat, his anger growing.

Derek just starred him down.

"I really hate your face." Liam said his eyes becoming more animal like. He growled getting ready to attack again. "I can take you all on."

"How about if we add two more to the equation?" A strange voice interrupted. Everyone jumped even Liam. Out of nowhere, Doug and a black haired man appeared right behind Liam making him spin around to face the new comers.

"Mr. Flynn!" I said before I could stop myself. I never thought I would feel so excited to see his moody face. Tori and the twins let out a sigh of relief. I ran over to Derek but he held up an arm forcing me to stay behind him. His gaze was on the strange black haired man. Liam hand started to twitch almost like he was trembling. I could kind of see why. Liam was frightening in his own way but this man was very intimidating, powerful. He was tall, and had long black hair that was tied back into a messy ponytail only adding to his strange appearance was his outfit which made him looked like he was in the wrong time period.

"There you are kids." Doug smiled. "I've been looking for you." Doug came over passing dangerously close to Liam. I wanted to warn him but it seemed that Liam wasn't in the mood for fighting anymore. He was starring at the strange man with horror.

I hesitated before walked out from behind Derek expecting him to stop me but he was so transfixed by the stranger now to even notice. I grabbed his arm. "Derek, are you okay?"

"Don't worry, he'll be fine." Doug said standing next to me and smiling. "I'd like to introduce, William, the right hand of the pack . He's here to pass judgment on both Liam and Derek."

William tilted his head his hair moving out of his face long enough to see golden animalistic eyes. His glare pierced through you, much the way Derek's could at times but his was much more sinister. For the most part it was directed at Liam but then suddenly it switched to Derek. Derek's hand clenched. We all could feel the power in the air that the man brought with him. The threat in his eyes we're enough to make my throat dry. I grabbed Derek's hand trying to calm him down. It did, his back seemed to relax a bit but his muscles were still tight, as if he was expecting an attack.

Liam wavered suggesting that he was about to make a run for it, and William's eyes went back to him. "Go ahead, run," his mouth twitched almost into a wicked smile, "but I'll be right behind you're your punishment will be just as painful, just as justified." His voice was almost demonic. Liam opened his mouth to say something but was caught off. "Don't try to feed me the rubbish you did last night. I know that you are lying." He tapped his brow. "I always know."

And with that Liam ran off with a flash. William starred after him almost like he didn't care.

"Your not going to go after him?" Doug asked, I could tell now that Doug was very tense. He didn't like werewolves, I wonder how he could stand being near such a frightening one like William.

"No, I will catch him soon enough." William sighed rolling his shoulders. He then looked back at Derek.

Derek straightened up as he started to move towards him. He was obviously older than him but Derek was tall enough to stare back at him eye to eye. "So, this is the Werewolf experiment from the Edison group, hmm?" Him and Derek starred each other down for a few minutes before William nodded. "Interesting…" A faint approving grin slowly formed on his lips and a sparkle in his eye. He then looked around at the rest of us pausing on me still holding onto Derek. "These experiments," He addressed to Doug gesturing to all of us. "I can sense the difference, you were right they are beyond the norm of all of our kind….this is very…interesting."

"They're not dangerous, that's all that matters." Doug paused, "But that is not why you're here, William. We need your approval to allow Derek within your territory. Now what do you say."

"Well," William said stepping back from everyone to get a bigger view of all of us. "He poses no threat I suppose to the pack," His gaze going back to Derek. "Are you in control boy?"

Derek didn't answer at first he just continued to stare at William. Simon standing next to him jammed him in the ribs.

"Yes." Derek replied. William raised his eyebrow but nodded.

"He is nothing but a confused pup. But I suggest keeping him locked inside just in case another one of the pack stumbles across him. I am rather upset to find that there genetically messing around with my kind and our children…upset and intrigued. He seems to be changing alarmingly faster than a normal born wolf does…hmmm" He rubbed his chin. "I would like to access the boy….one day to see how different he really is…how special." Doug tensed about to say something but William raised his hand very calmly. "But for now, you have my permission I suppose." He took a few more steps back and without another word he dashed away in the same direction that Liam had.

Everyone seemed to relax and let out a sigh of relief. Olivia and Eva jumped over to Doug. "Thank goodness you found us!"

"Yea talk about good timing." Jason said rubbing his neck. "How did you stand being so close to that guy? Man he had me on edge I thought I was going to be sick."

"I had time to prepare, I'm a rather good actor." Doug shook out his arms. "The whole time he was giving me the creeps, trust me. But that's not what matters right now! We've got to get you kids inside. Come on I've got a mini-van up on the second block."

I sighed. We were safe again. I looked up at Derek his eyes were closed. I rubbed his arm, "Hey are you okay?"

"Yea you don't look so good." Eva said bouncing over to us.

"What do you expect? A lone werewolf is confronted by a pack official? He's lucky he wasn't killed." Simon said slapping Derek on the back. "Calm down D, everything's okay now."

"Right." Derek said through his teeth. He rubbed his neck trying to get his muscles to relax.

"Are you going to be okay?" I said pulling on his arm trying to get him to move.

"M'fine." He mumbled.

"Well you sure don't look fine." Tori said worried. Everyone stopped to look or glance at her. She raised her eyebrow. "What? I'm not allowed to worry about the freak and the fact that he may slow us down? I want to sleep on a bed tonight. Not a fricken car seat again."

I smiled at her. Well what ya know, Tori does care…somewhat.

---

At the edge of New York city, Doug pulled his car over and we all jumped out. There were still a few tall office looking buildings in front of us, but I could see more green and less city stretching behind them. Doug ushered us inside the nearest one. As I went over the threshold I felt a strange wave of uneasiness. I wanted to stop but Doug pushed me through saying something about being seen.

"So this is our new hideout? An office building?" Tori said a little disappointed.

"Actually," Doug said, "It's an old building that William use to own. It just appears to be a still functioning office building." He pushed us down the hall towards what looked like a lobby.

"Really? He gave you this building?" Simon said.

"No. We bought it from him." Doug sighed. "Andrew found a rich acquaintance of his that has some common interests with us."

"There you lot are!" Andrew smiled at us as we came around the corner.

"Ey! Andrew! You don't know how glad I am to see you!" Jason laughed running over and hugging Andrew who pushed him off. "Hey don't be like that. I've been through a lot."

"Yeah, blond Barbie Edison employees , werewolves, homeless prophets, we've seen it all." Tori said rolling her eyes.

Leslie came out of a room behind Andrew a huge smile on her weary face, the girls ran over to her. She looked real banged up. Her right eye was swollen. And her left arm was in a cast. But she was smiling as she hugged her two daughters. Jeff came out right after her and walked over to talk to Jason, slapping him on the back with a bandaged hand.

Me, Tori, Derek and Simon moved away from everyone to stand in the opening to the hallway. "What you guys think?" Simon said looking around.

"Well," Tori said looking through a magazine she had picked up from the lobby. "It sure does seem to look like a working building. This magazine is brand new. No one's going to think that were hiding inside an office building."

"That's not what's going to trick people." Derek sighed. "It's the fact the building's deed will still have William as its owner. Even if the Edison group made the connection, what are they going to do about it? For all they know they think the pack would be protecting us. They aren't that stupid to launch an attack on a powerful werewolf pack. That would be suicide."

I stared at him, worried. He was leaning against the doorway, he seemed to be drained, tired. He realized I was watching him and he straightened up. "No worries." He said rolling his shoulders. I frowned.

"Yea Chloe everything's going to be okay. This place looks a lot safer than that little house in the middle of the woods." Simon smiled next to me.

A door opened loudly down the hall, our heads swung around instinctly to find source but it was too far for us to really see. Everyone got very quiet and tense. Except Andrew, "Don't worry. It's our new friend. These halls play tricks on the mind. He went to get some paper work in the back rooms."

"'New Friend'," Tori mocked. "Does this 'New Friend' have a name?"

"How do we know we can trust him?" Simon said folding his arms, the faint footsteps coming from the hall, we all were turned expectantly towards the doors at the end. "All we know so far is that he's rich. You know a little information wouldn't kill us Andrew. A name at least."

"Well…" Andrew said. "He has a common interest in you lot…He's human who just recently discovered our kind but…"

"But has no name?" Toris said getting angry. Andrew seemed set with not saying the man's name and I gave up listening to him Tori and Simon. Instead I looked away from the hall towards Derek. He wasn't looking at the approaching man either. But at me.

"You know don't you." I said stepping closer to him. He just stared at me.

"Fine don't tell me, but you should really think about using your superpowers for good." I glared at him, the corner of his mouth twitched but he didn't respond. I sighed. And then shivered."Does it feel weird here or is it only me?" I whispered so only he could hear. I had felt strange entering this place from the beginning. I couldn't put my finger on it but something was off.

"Well, yeah but I think it's only because I can finally smell again, and this place is crawling with the pack's scents." He finally spoke. "Maybe you're just tired, or…." He reached over and took the glasses I still had on my face off. "Now, does that feel better?"

I touched my face. I hadn't even noticed they were still on. But I could still feel the uneasiness surrounding me. "Nah, I still feel weird." I rubbed my neck.

"Well, don't worry about it for now." Derek said out of the corner his mouth, in his hand he was fiddling with the glasses. "Everything should be okay for a while."

"Yea well…" I said reaching over and grabbing the glasses out of his hand. "I guess we all made it here in one piece. Positive thinking. At least," I raised the glasses to my eyes, "that is what Clark Kent would say."

He closed his eyes, "So your superman now? I think I preferred monster."

I smiled at him. He opened his eye's slowly first looking at me and then over my shoulder. His face tightened.

"_Chloe?"_

I jumped. My back tensed. I felt my heart sink. I knew that voice….

I turned around, hoping beyond hope I had heard wrong. Please, oh please! I felt my eyes sting with tears as I saw him.

"D-d-d-dad?!"

--

**Oh! another Clif hanger?? Im so evil!!!! Mwhahahaa!!**

**DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS**

**I hope I everyone likes how this is going im thinking of doing a just simon and tori chapter soon. Not the next one but the one after that. FYI I don't think of Simon and Tori as a couple. EWW!**

**But anyway. REVIEW PLEASE!!!**

**Oh and sorry for the dbl upload but the first time I uploaded the wrong one!**


	12. Chapter 12: Curiosity

______

"Oh Chloe!" My dad rushed towards me a pulling me into a tight hug. "I have been so worried about you!" I pushed him away and he starred at me with shock.

"W-what a-a-are you doing here?" I stuttered as tears drenched my face.

"Chloe? I---." He looked hurt reaching towards me.

"No! NO! Your not suppose to be here!" I stepped back. I swung my head around to glare horrified at Andrew. "Why! Why would you do this?"

Andrew looked away from me. I felt my Dad's hand fall gently on my shoulder. I swung back to look at him. His eyes, glistened, full of un-shed tears. I lump formed in my throat. I had never seen my dad cry except for when mom had died. "Do you understand the d-d-d-danger your in?" How stupid could Andrew be? This was exactly what i had been avoiding. He knows now. The Edison group will find me and they will hurt him. The further away he was from me the safest he was, i knew that Andrew should have know that!...and now he was right here close enough to touch... _No No No! _

"Chloe I've been looking for you. I----."

"No!" I shouted hysterical now. Everyone was starring back at me horrified, I probably looked as mad as a crazy person. I backed away from him again. The closer he was to me the more danger he was in. The closer he got to me the more he would find out...about me...what i could do...what i was...

I snapped and turned, running away.

"CHLOE!"

I wanted to comfort my dad. More than anything. I wanted to hug him tight and admit i was happy to see him. But i couldn't. I can't. He doesn't understand, he will never understand. I was'nt the same Chloe he remembered, that he was looking for. I wasn't the good little blond girl who went to all her classes, did all her homework and never did anything extraordinary.

The Chloe now was a monster. An escaped science experiment gone wrong and being hunted. A horrible horrible black version of his Chloe....I crashed straight into a double door which was locked, I scrambled to unlock it not looking back as i slammed it shut and ran down the dark hallway. Leaving everyone far behind me.

I keep running, opening all the doors i came to, not paying attention. I think i ran down some stairs, or maybe up.... But where ever i went i found my self stopping at a wide window. The blackness made me stop. My face mirrored in its emptiness. My eyes red, my face still drenched with tears. I looked terrible. I looked...like a different person.

It was like looking at someone else. Her black hair was dull. Her eye's were empty.

Like the other Chloe.

No.

I saw my bottom lip tremble. I was running away from me. What i was. Who i am. It doesn't matter. I closed my eyes but i could still see her. She nodded smiling at me.

"Im afraid of myself. Im afraid of you."

She nodded.

"That means...The only way for me to stop being afraid is...I need to stop running away and start walking forward."

She nodded.

"The only way to protect Dad, and everyone else, is to ...." I stopped, she smiled and for the first time her eyes shined with life.

_"Exactly." She whispered her lips not moving._

"Who are you talking to?"

I jumped my eyes opening, my mirrored image in the window copying my shocked expression. Derek's reflection standing behind mine, looking at me worried. I spun around using my jackets sleeve to wipe away the tears still left on my face.

"Are you okay?" He said rubbing his neck. "This place is a maze, Simon and them are all lost looking for you by now." His eyes were soft, troubled. "That's the second time in three days that you've stormed off and i've had to come and find you. I hope this isn't becoming a new hobby of yours....Everyone is worried about you. Your Dad, mostly."

My eye's narrowed, a strange feeling bubbling up in my chest. "You! You knew all this time didn't you! You heard Andrew telling Jason over the phone call. You knew he was dragging my dad into this mess and you didn't warn me!"

He blinked back at me, his jaw tightened answering my question wordlessly.

"Y-you... You bastard! Why didn't you tell me!!" I screamed raising my fist and slamming it on his chest. I didn't accomplish much, just hurting my own hand. Forgetting the pain I raised my hand to swing again but Derek caught it. I glared up at him but my moment of anger disappeared as he pulled me close and wrapped his arms around me.

"I didn't know how to tell you..." Derek mumbled above me, i starred into his shirt his smell overwhelming me. "Im not good with all this personal stuff yet...So I didn't tell you. I didn't want you to run away again."

I closed my eyes. "B-b-but my dad. Now he's in danger, and it's because he's with me. I love my dad Derek, what if something happens to him, i would never forgive myself."

"We can't do anything about it now. Just accept it."

I buried my face in his chest. New found tears soaking his shirt.

"Your Dad loves you. He wants to protect you just like you want to protect him."

"B-b-but---!"

"Chloe. You need to keep your promise."

"My p-promise?"

"Not to run anymore remember?" He rubbed the top of my head. "There's no going back, no if, and's or _but's _about it..."

Derek loosened his grip on me so that i could back off. But i couldn't, i just stood there balling my eyes out. "I'll k-k-keep my promise. N-n-no more running, no more c-crying....after this." Derek was right, dream Chloe was right. I couldn't change who i was. What i was. I needed to stop running away from all the stuff I couldn't fix or change. I needed to stand strong and accept who i was. I couldn't be that horrible of a monster. There were still people who loved me even though they knew what i could do.... I guess that was enough for me.

"Good. Cause i was getting tired of chasing after you. Come on little Monster." Derek mumbled pulling me back the way we had come.

I smiled. That was it. No more running away. The first thing I was going to do when I see my dad is hold him tight and tell him how much I love him. Because I could feel the brim overfilling, trouble was ahead I know Derek could feel it to. An unsettling air that surrounded us, the thickness and uneasiness. But I could face it, whatever those idiots threw at us...

----

"Well this is great!" Tori smiled as she came bouncing into my room in fresh pink silk pajama's. "Forget everything I said at first about this place, this is awesome! Fresh cloths, warm beds, good food. Plus we get our own rooms!" She jumped on my bed where I was sitting. "I love your rich dad. Do you think he would adopt me?"

"Really? You want to be my sister?" I hummed hugging my knees.

"Oh wait...I didn't think that one through." She rubbed her chin. "Is there a way to be adopted as his niece or something?" She hummed smiling again at me.

"That's my Tori." I smiled back at her. My eyes drifting off.

"So you patched things up with your dad huh?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Good huh? Or bad?"

"It's good, He understood the situation i think...Not sure he fully gets what a 'Necromancer' is though." I sighed leaning against the wall. Me and Dad had a long talk, shared our 'I love you's' and I told him everything that had happened since the Lyle house. He sat there and listened quietly. Nodding along.

"Did you tell him what the rest of us are?" Tori said alittle worried.

"Yea. He asked." I looked at her. "I don't think wizards and witches are gonna scare him after my little 'Raise the Dead from the Grave' analogy. So don't worry you can sucker up to him all you want."

"That's not what i was worried about." Tori said her smile gone.

"What then?"

"Well your dad's not going to let you date a Werewolf is he?"

"Date? Date? Me and Derek you mean that's not---were n---." I stammered sitting up straight in my bed.

"Oh stop it Chloe. You two are crazy about each other. Simon says your both idoits for waiting this long." Tori sighed folding her legs under her.

"S-simon said that?" I stuttered.

"Yea. He's ok with it you know." She said as someone knocked on the door. It was my dad. "Hello Mr. Saunders." Tori smiled wide at him as he entered.

"Oh yes Victoria. It's nice to see you again, Ah do those Pajama's fit? Wasn't sure of your size." He said politely.

"Yes Sir their wonderful! Thank you so much." Tori said rubbing her arms feeling the silk under her fingers. When I had first come into my room i had discovered the same pair of pj's on my bed only they were blue.

"Excellent, but i was wondering if I could talk to Chloe alone for awhile." He said looking at me worried.

"Oh! That's ok, see you." She waved rushing out of my room. I smiled after her. Tori had changed so much, or maybe she was just growing on me. But i guess as long as she had clean cloths and plenty of food, then Tori was happy.

My Dad took her place on the edge of my bed, rubbing his neck. "She's a sweet girl, Im glad you had a friend through all this."

I snorted, holding back my laughter.

"What?" He said worried.

"Oh it's nothing...Just me and Tori...Well lets just say me and her weren't always this---girly friendly. She hated me for the longest time, i think she still does...Just not as much. Were growing on each other." I said looking up at him he still looked worried. "But i had friends. I wasn't alone. Derek and Simon have always been there. And then there was Liz and Rae. We close, or at least...we were..."

"Elizabeth and Rachelle. They were girls in the Lyle house as well. You told me what happened to Rachelle but you never mention Elizabeth. Did she get left behind at the Lyle house?" He asked. the first telling of my small journey. I had left out a few small details like me and Derek's cross country trip and Liz's help. I paused the words on the edge of my tongue.

"S-s-she....She died Dad."

He starred at me his eyes wide. "Oh Chloe...What...What happened?"

"She was killed because her powers were out of control." I said my gaze drifting away.

"That poor child." He said after a long moment of silence.

"Don't worry she's ok. She's accepted it at least." I didn't mean to say it, i was just thinking it. Why o why did i say it. I starred up at my dad, he looked away his eyes wide. "I-I-I mean...w-well she...."

"You've talked to this girl....Her spirit?"

"Y-yea it's what I do. She's been alot of help really. Only certain ghosts can actually move and touch things, she's one of them so she's been helping us get out of tight situations."

"Is....Is she here now?" He asked looking around shifting his eyes.

"No. She hasn't been around lately. The last time i saw her she helped me find....Well i remember her saying that she had something important to tell me but I feel asleep before she could...I hope she's okay."

"I bet she is....You kids have been through so much." He sighed rubbing his forehead. "Which of the boy's is this, _Derek_? The blond boy, the tall one or the one with all those tattoos?"

I shifted worried about where this conversation was going. "....Derek is the tall, black haired boy. Simon's the Blond. And Jason has all the tattoos....Why?"

"I was afraid of that.." He sighed running his hand through his hair.

"You over heard me and Tori didn't you." I said hunching my shoulders.

"Ya." He looked over at me, i could tell he was tied he had been through alot recently. Finding his missing daughter only having her run away in fear from him. Then hearing of all the problems and dangers she had to go through. And to top it off overhearing that his daughter was dating a werewolf...if i was in fact actually dating him.... "I have to say Chloe, i don't like it."

I starred at him blankly. Of course he didn't like it. Derek was a very intimidating guy, and being Werewolf didn't make him any less. But he didn't even know him, he didn't even give him a chance. "You don't know him."

"I don't need to know him. I don't like the idea of you dating him."

"Hmm." I hummed. "You wouldn't be saying that if you knew him...or you shouldn't be so quick to judge at least....I bet you wouldn't be bothered if I said Simon...Derek isn't a bad person, he's the reason why Tori, me and Simon are still alive."

"He's to old for you."

"He's one year older than me. And it doesn't matter were not..." I started but couldn't finish. "Dad there's alot you still don't understand."

"Doesn't a father have a right to worry about who his daughter is dating? Minus all the supernatural?"

My eye's narrowed. "Like i said, you probably wouldn't care if it was Simon."

"Chloe, no matter who it is I'm just not ready to deal with you and dating. This is too much for me to handle right now. When did you start liking boys anyway? Yes, the Simon boy seems more...but that doesn't matter---"

I stood up. "Dad i don't want to talk about this right now." I went to leave but he grabbed my arm. I looked at him his eyes full of worried. "Dad, Im not going to run off. I'm going to get a soda. You can come with me, just drop the dating crap."

"We need to talk about this---."

"No dad we don't." I cut him off, He looked shocked. I had never been in the situation in which i needed to be rude and cut him off. I was back talking and smart mouthing him for the first time. I could tell in his eyes that he was realizing that i wasn't the same little girl he remembered. "It just...Im sorry Dad, but this "boy talk" just seems too.... normal for me. It's making me uncomfortable."

"Uncomfortable huh? How do you think i feel?" He chuckled walking out with me and down the hall. "Fine, truce, no more boy talk."

"Hey Chloe!" Simon said jogging up to us from behind us. "Hello Mr. Saunders."

"Hey Simon." I smiled.

" I came to get you. Me and D were watching Tv in the the Live in Room." He smiled back wide at me. "You should come to Mr. Saunders, if you want, i know that you want to spend time with I mean."

"Ah, I've got a few minutes to spare." My Dad said patting me on the back.

When we came into the room Derek was sitting on the couch his feet up on the coffee table. He nodded when he saw us then returned his gaze back on the Tv, the remote in his hand. Tori was there too, sitting in a very fluffy lazy boy looking relaxed. "Have I mentioned how much I love this place?" She said her eyes closed.

"More than once." I hummed as I collasped on the coach sitting inbetween Derek and Simon.

"Im glad you three are enjoying yourselves, you've gone through alot, it's good that your getting a break." Dad sighed as he leaned against the wall next to Tori.

"Ah it's great Mr. Saunders." Tori smiled. "Wolfy doesn't think so though."

Derek shot her a look before returning his attention back to the Tv.

"What's wrong with it D?" Simon said intrested leaning past me to see his face.

Derek tried to ignore him but Simon reached over me to whack him on the head, i had to move forward a little so not to get clipped also.

"It stinks." Derek looking at the Tv, some lame sitcom playing.

"It stinks meaning...?" Tori smiled her eye narrowing, "Is it the Dog's oversensitive nose picking up on others of it's kind? You should feel at home."

Derek's eyes narrowed but he didn't pay amymore attention to her. "I reaks. Other than that it's great." He said under his breath. I looked up at my dad who was looking at Derek...angry? Annoyed? no he looked more tired than anything.

"Hey there Munchkins!" Jason shouted coming into the room, Eva and O following right behind him. "What's on the Tube?" He smiled when he noticed my dad. "Hey there Moneybags." He said slapping his back.

The sitcom went to commercial and Derek started flipping through the channels trying to find something else.

"Geeze." Tori sighed. "Can't you just leave it on one channel?"

We all went silent when my face looked back at us from the Tv. It was the news.

_"No new leads on the whereabouts of missing teenager Chloe Saunders. Last seen at a mental health facility, The Lyle House last month. The House has gone under fire recently from strong claims on it's procedures and security. A reward is being offered for any news to the wereabouts of the missing Teen. If you have any infromation,any at all, please call your local police station. Now lets go to Tom with the weather..."_

"You looked so different with blond hair!" Eva smiled rocking on the balls of her feet.

I looked over at my dad. He shrugged his shoulders. "I have to keep up a front and pretend that your still missing. To throw off this Edison Group."

"Smart too, your a triple threat. How are you still single?" Jason laughed next to him. I looked over at Derek who was still starring at the Tv, worried.

"Something's bothering you." I whispered so only he and Simon could hear.

"Yea, D, it can't be just the smell of this place that's got you on edge. What's wrong?" Simon said quietly.

Derek closed his eyes and sighed before looking at us and our worried faces. "Im just overthinking the situation that's all. Don't worry about it..."

"It's William isn't it?" Simon asked. "What he said about testing you or whatever."

Derek's jaw tightened. "Like I said don't worry about it." I glarred at him. He looked at me, his eyes going soft, then he smiled before standing up.

"Where are you going?" I said my cheaks alittle red.

"Bed. Night." And with that he left.

"I have to be going, also." My dad said backing away from Jason. "I'll see you all in the morning. Good night Chloe."

"Night Dad." I smiled at him.

"Yea Night Dad." Jason waved, my dad shrugged him off and turned to leave. "Man, I love your Dad. He's so up tight, it's just too much fun to tease him." He chuckled.

I yawned.

"Tired?" Simon asked. I nodded. "Yea I quess it's been a tiring day." He stood up and motioned for me to follow him and together we left the room. "Don't get to worked up over D." He said once we were far enough away. "He's just overly protective of us, me and you mostly... probably not Tori so much, who could blame him? But I think the thought of letting Andrew and the adults handle everything is bothering him."

I starred at Simon worried. I had so much I wanted to tell him. But how do I start. _Hey Simon, yea im in love with your brother an all so yea lets just be friends okay? _That wouldn't work...

"Um listen Simon, about me and Derek---."

He stopped and turned around, me not paying any attention to where i was going walked right into him... and then he wrapped his arms around me. I blinked in confusion but as quick as he had did it, it was over. He stepped back with a huge smile. "Don't worry about it."

"W-what was that?"

"Call it curiosity. I just wanted to know what it felt like." He paused to rub his neck. "Chloe, I don't think it would work between the two of us. I mean---How does it go?---It's not you it's me." He smiled mischeviously. "Listen, in all seriousness, I do like you Chloe. But I think Derek likes you more, he just has a funny way of showing it."

"Simon---."

"So lets just leave it at that okay?" He smiled brightly at me before continuing down the hall to his room. I walked towards him but not before noticing Derek's door a little a jar. Call it Curiosity, as Simon would say. I peeked inside. Derek was lying with his back to the door, sweat rolling off his skin and shining in the faint light.

I took a few steps back. Something was wrong.

----

**HEY HEY HEY HEY!!!**

**.::Do not own darkest powers::.**

**Sorry this took a while. lots and lots of homework this past few weeks. **

**Kind of a slow chapter hopefully it'll pick up in the next one. I couldn't exactly remember when Chloe officially went missing so i just quessed a month. Sorry if that's incorrect but i lent out my copy of the books to a friend and still haven't got them back yet. O well.**

**Please Review, I live for your feadback!!!**


	13. Chapter 13: Necromanced

Necromanced

"Derek?" I whispered tip toeing into his room. He didn't answer. I bit my lip and very slow and very carefully I sat on the edge of his bed and leaned over him to see his face. He was sleeping. He must have been exhausted to fall asleep so fast. He looked peaceful, all except for the fact that he was dripping wet in sweat. I waited a few minutes before reaching over him to touch his forehead. I jerked away, he was burning hot. The second that the back of my hand made contact with his skin, his eyes fluttered open. He blinked in the dark to find the source of what woke him up.

When he saw me, he propped himself up on his elbow, rubbing his neck. "Chloe? What's wrong?"

"You that's what. Your burning up. Are you changing again or something?" I said leaning back from him.

"What?" He noticed his wet skin and touched his forehead. "Weird. I feel fine." He said scratching his head. "I don't feel...like I'm changing."

"No?" I reached up to touch his forehead again. It was boiling hot. "Maybe you just have an everyday ordinary fever."

"Nah, that can't be it." Derek yawned. "Nothing Normal ever happens to me." He paused before swinging his feet off his bed. "You probably shouldn't be sneaking into my room at night you know. Give the neighbor's the wrong idea and all….Go to bed Chloe don't worry about me." I started to protest that he needed some medicine, but he stood up and held his door open. "Don't worry I'm going to take a shower to take my temperature down. But...your dad isn't that comfortable with me right now okay, so let's not make it worse."

I started walking towards him my arms crossed."Derek, im not going to stop hanging out with you just because my dad is afraid of..."

"Oh ho wait, I didn't say that. Just no sneaking around at night okay?" He smiled reaching out to move a strand of hair out my face and tucking it behind my ear. "Go to bed. If I'm not okay in the morning _**than**_ you can go crazy nurse on me okay?"

I smiled but I was still worried. "I guess I can live with that." I walked out of his room; he closed the door behind us.

"And hey Chloe," Derek said as I started to walk towards my room, I stopped turned around and jumped with how close he was. He leaned down and kissed me softly. "Good night." He smiled walking away towards the bathroom. I stood there for a while, my face beet red, waiting to hear the bathroom door close. I sighed my face returning to its normal color before turning back to my room.

_I never remembered dreaming this much before all this mess had happened..._

_This was different than the others. Instead of complete darkness….it was like I was in a room of pure light. There was someone off in the distance faintly…._

___"Aunt Lauren!" I screamed running after her. It was just like in the woods at Andrews. She started to become fuzzy and started to disappear. "WAIT!" She heard me, thank god she heard me. She stopped and waited for me. _

_I smiled but now that I was up close the woman in front of me didn't look like Lauren. But she stilled looked familiar. She was so faint, like she was fading away, I could barely make out any features anymore…she looked almost like…a ghost._

"_Aunt Lauren? Please, tell me you're not dead." _

_I could just make out her smiling sweetly at me._

"_I…I wanted to tell you how much-." She raised her hand to silence me. The faint hand reached out to stroke me cheek but I couldn't feel anything. I looked down to see her hand go right through me._

_No. "Please tell me this is just a dream. You c-can't be dead…" Her head lowered and I felt my heart sink. Her hand slowly drifted down my skin, raising the hair on the back of my neck, resting finally on my necklace's pendent._

_ I felt a strange warmth overcome me. It was so comforting almost like strong arms were wrapped tightly around me, shielding me from the world. The last time I could ever remember feeling like this was…._

"_M-Mom?"_

My eyes flew open, my hand was wrapped tightly around my necklace so hard it hurt when I finally let go. The pendant fell and I could feel heat emanating from it though my pajamas.

I stared off into the dark surrounding me, pulling my knees up to my chest and hugging them tight. These dreams had to mean something. I closed my eyes and tried to remember back to when the strange dreams had started. First there was the one that had kept me up at the old safe house. Complete darkness. Than it had escalated, hearing everyone's voices and not being able to find them.

Then came the one with the other me, it had felt so real. I had been hoping that was the end of the creepy dreams. That I had learned my lesson and my subconscious would give me a break for a while. But this one was different than the others. Was that really my mom trying to tell me something? Or was it just my head playing with me?

As I sat there pondering, I heard faint footsteps in the hall. They were quite and hesitant as the light that leaked from under my door flickered.

"Chloe?"

I blinked shocked….Janet? I had barely heard her say anything this whole time. What was she doing up so late…and what did she want with me?

"May I come in?" She whispered outside the door.

"Uhh yea sure." She slowly opened the door and brought light into the dark room. She looked worse than the day I had first saw her. Her nightgown hung off her small thin bone like body and a blanket was draped over her shoulders. She silently shut the door behind her and daintily sat on the bed.

"What's up?" I said nervously.

She didn't say anything at first; she just stared at me with her dull grey eyes, hauntingly. The silence stretched on and I had to shift uncomfortably under her gaze.

"Are you feeling well?" She asked finally.

"Uhh yea, why wouldn't I be?" I said trying to lie, which failed, I could see in the way Janet tilted her head.

"Chloe, do you know what I am?"

I opened my mouth about to answer and then quickly shut it. Come to think of it, I had no clue what Janet was. All I really knew was that she was an amazing cook and was really close to Andrew. I shook my head in defeat.

"I am a Shaman." She said weakly. "My powers, although, are far beyond what they should be. In a way I'm very similar to you. My excuse however isn't because of a lab but my linage. I owe my powers to my blood, my ancestors, the _ tribe. The Native American's had a strange connection with the supernatural¸ and my family tree branches back to strong and powerful medicine men and Shamans. They're powers devilled into the spirit world and the dream world and I inherited my powers from them. And because of that, I am far beyond your average everyday Shaman, very rare."

I starred at her in amazement. It was the longest I have ever heard her talk and it aloud me a chance to finally appreciate her voice. It was strong and held great power but at the same time was as smooth as silk.

"Because of that, I am extremely sensitive to other people's aura. That is why Andrew brought me here, to watch over you children. To make sure your strange powers didn't over-whelm you." She sighed.

"Aura?" I asked.

"A person's spiritual essence, it is the connection between your body and the spiritual world. It is also what connects us to the dream world and allows our minds to wander while we sleep. To every person there are four parts. A mortal body, a human soul, and a gateway to both the Spiritual and the Dream world. This combination is what allows us supernatural's to exist. Or at least that is tale that my Shaman Ancestors left behind. Do you understand?"

"Kinda." I mumbled biting my lip. "Is that why your here, because of my dream? It couldn't have been that strong to wake you up could it?"

Janet lowered her head as if she was drained of energy. "My powers allow me to connect and see other people's aura's along with being able to walk in the spiritual world and because of that it takes a toll on my mortal shell…A supernatural's aura is always stronger than that of a regular person but you children…" She cupped her hands over her face. "You, Miss Victoria and Derek, your powers are beyond that of anything that has ever walked from the spirit world. It seems that **your** powers, Chloe, have somehow breached both the spirit world and the dream world, something that is un-heard of even among Necromancers. I fear that all of you have been dealt powers that are beyond even a master's control."

I felt my heart beat raising fast. I knew that there was something wrong with us to begin with and Janet's worried face wasn't helping to calm my fears.

"The size of your children's aura is beyond the capacity of your mortal body. I cannot say for certain what the overall outcome will be, but for certain, there will be negative effects along the way. This much power contained in such small shells will soon look for a release. You my dear, must be extremely careful. A Necromancer is, after all, a being who can romance the dead to do their bidding. Your eyes can see into the spiritual world. And your voice can break their rest. To experiment with that power…the Edison groups were foolish to attempt such a thing. Your powers well…from what I've been told, let's just say they border on a Gods territory."

A timid giggle escaped my lips before I could stop it. "Janet, I really _**really**_wish you hadn't said that."

Janet eyebrows slanted. "I felt the strange flux in you aura tonight, I felt it before from you when you were sleeping. I couldn't make the connection because it seemed so strange. But it seems that you're using your powers while you sleep, and with one foot in the spirit world and one in the dream world, the results could be disastrous…" She looked me up and down and then shocked me by raising her hand to my necklace... "Did you raise the dead tonight Chloe?"

"I-I Don't know…I saw-well I'm not exactly sure what I saw. It might have been a ghost b-but I'm not sure, I think it was just a dream….I've done It before though…."

Janet's eyes tightened.

"A homeless man who had died in a place we were using as a hide-out. I didn't mean it, I had a dream and it…well Derek woke me up and the man's body was m-mov…" I bit my lip. "Is there a way to stop this?"

"I don't know." Janet looked away. "I fear the only way for it to stop would be for you to master your powers, which for even a normal Necromancer is a difficult task." She sighed.

I let there be silence for a while. If what Janet said was true than I was a danger to myself and everyone around me….

"Janet….how are….I-I mean Derek and Tori?" I said choosing my words carefully.

Janet's face became more solemn. "Well, Victoria is fine as long as she doesn't get angry. I think her threat comes with her temper…Derek well; his aura has been fluxing ever since I first saw him. Werewolves are a much different case than a witch or necromancer. His powers develop in a physical way, but his are coming at an alarming rate."

"He had a fever. A couple hours ago, he was burning up and dripping with sweat. But he said he did think he was changing."I said frightened.

"Hmm. I cannot say what is happening to him." She said rubbing her arms. "I have a warning for you." I glared at her, not her too. "Let me rephrase that." She said sensing my mood. "I have a warning for you, Simon, Derek and Victoria. You are endanger here as much as you are out there. I think…soon something will happen…I ignored my feeling the first time and we suffered because of it…"

"What do you mean?" I said confused.

"Just don't get comfortable is what I'm saying. Something is coming and I don't like it." She stood up. "Get some rest, try meditating before you sleep. Clear your mind. It's a long shot but it's a start."

She was about to shut the door when I sat up straight. "Thank you, Janet." She looked back over her shoulder and nodded before leaving.

I slowly lay back on my bed my body felt sore for some reason like I had just ran a marathon. If what Janet said was true, we all were in danger. I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind. But that was like telling Tori not to complain. I smiled but it quickly faded. I knew, like Janet had said, not to get comfortable. And I knew that rest from now on would never come easy again.

**Hey! DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWER!**

**Sorry for the large absence, I've been….soul searching…or I should say really sleeping….. my summer away. I'm gonna try and make up for lost time by posting a much as I can so I can call this fanfiction completed.**

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	14. Chapter 14: Family Ties

I stretched in the warm light coming from my window. Sleep hadn't come easy after Janet's late night bed time story, but it did eventually and for once no dreams. I sighed looking at my door. I had a strange feeling overcome me that made my spine tingle, like the walls were closing in on me.

Then I felt pressure on the edge of my bed and my head spun around. Liz.

"Liz!" I laughed, I moved to reach out and hug her when I realized I couldn't. Instead I just smiled. She returned the smile but my attention moved to her hands which were tugging on the bottom of her shirt, nervously.

"Hey, Chloe." She mumbled.

"Where have you been?" I asked cautiously. "I was worried about you."

"Well, you left in such a hurry that I took a while to catch up to you. I umm….actually found you last night…when that woman was talking to you…"

"Janet?"

"Uh...yea." She looked away towards the door.

"Liz, what's wrong?" I shifted nervously towards her.

"It's nothing. I just overheard you two, and it well… it makes me nervous." She looked back at me the smile slowly returning. "I've been thinking a lot lately, it's all I really have to do right now. I don't think I can…I just don't want what happened to me, to happen to you…"

I starred at her nervously before patting the bed next her. "We would never have gotten this far without you." She smiled sweetly. "Were in this one together, okay?"

"Yea…I suppose so." Liz smiled.

Just then someone knocked on my door. "Giddy up sunshine, family meeting in the lounge in five minutes."Jason. I sighed and quickly threw on some of the new cloths my dad had left out for me. Liz didn't wait for me and I saw her drift through the wall into the hallway. I rushed the hair brush through my hair and scattered out into the hall, nearly running into Jason and Tori.

"Hey, good morning Sleeping Beauty!" Jason smiled widely. "Who were you talking to in there? Going a bit crazy huh, don't blame you with all the stress…" He started trailing off when he saw my face and Tori's.

"Is it Liz? Is she back?" Tori asked worried.

I nodded and looked around Liz was down the hall peeking into one of the rooms. "She's real nervous. I think the sudden change again confused her. But there something she's not telling me." Jason looked down the hall causally.

"Elizabeth? That girl you were talking about?" He looked over at Tori. She nodded. "Hmm…well this is going to be interesting. Come on they probably started talking without us." He started walking towards the room Liz had been peeking into. We followed but I stopped at the door. When she realized I wasn't behind her anymore Tori stopped to look at me.

"What's wrong?" I asked Liz standing outside the door.

"Nothing, I'm just going to stand here and eavesdrop."

"You can come in. It's not like anyone in there is going to bite you." I whispered. She looked at me shaking her head.

"Nah but I don't think anyone would be comfortable." She sighed.

"I won't feel comfortable unless you do. Come on" I made a movement to grab her arm and usher her in. "You can sit between me and Tori, you can still help." I looked at Tori and she nodded. The living room had been transformed into a meeting room over night. With one of those big board meeting tables in the center of it surrounded by big comfortable chairs. My dad looked up when I entered and gestured to the seat next to him. But there were three empty chairs next to Simon and Janet so I shook my head. He looked confused and even more when Tori and me left a chair in between us.

Without thinking Liz moved the chair out from under the table to sit in it. Everyone's attention shifted towards the moving chair. My dad looked at me worried and I just shrugged my shoulders.

"Liz wanted to hear what was going on." Tori spoke before I could.

"Liz is here?" Simon said looking towards the chair smiling. "Cool. Chloe tell her I said thanks for helping us out with that tight spot a while back."

"She **can** hear, Idiot!" Tori barked looking at the spot where her dead best friend sat, invisible to her.

Liz smiled all the same. "My pleasure."

"She says 'My pleasure.'" I smiled over at him. Janet, who was sitting next to me, looked at the chair like she was imaging a girl sitting there. She nodded before returning her attention on Andrew across the table.

I looked around and Doug, Leslie and the girls were missing. "Where's everyone else?" I asked.

"Doug is doing what he does best, and protecting the entrance. Leslie left with her girls in the middle of the night. I think she took them to a relative to stay till all this blows over. She wasn't going to bring them in the first place if they hadn't threatened to run away from their dad's to follow after her. She'll be back soon enough." Andrew said rubbing his neck. He seemed tense.

"I really just wanted to talk to you four." He said looking around the table speaking to me Tori, Simon, and Derek. I hadn't really notice Derek till now. He was sitting in the corner near Simon. He had his arms crossed and his eyes closed almost like he was sleeping. He looked okay; actually he looked too healthy almost like last night hadn't happened. He felt me starring at him and slightly opened his eyes. He gave me quick thumbs up and returned to his false slumber.

"So what's the plan, Drew?" Jeff asked, Jason sitting next to him his feet on the table.

"Well at the moment there isn't one." Andrew sighed. Tori snorted, holding back a laugh.

"We have to save Rae and my Aunt Lauren." I said speaking up. I felt strange, almost confident, something I never use to have. My nerves seemed to be gone. "We can't just leave them behind."

Andrew looked at me and then at Janet. "I know Chloe. I want your Aunt and Rae safe just as much as you do but…I know that the group isn't going to give them up easily. I think our best bet would be to find Kit."

Both Simon and Derek looked up with bright eyes at the mention of their dad. "Do you know where he is?" Simon said leaning towards Andrew excited.

"No, the last time he was able to get a hold me he was just outside New Jersey. And that was a good time before you guys were able to find me. He was able to call me on an untraceable cell phone. He's well, but worried very worried about you two boys. I didn't want to tell you boys at first, I didn't want to get your hopes up. But now…I don't have much of a choice."

"How can Kit help us?" Janet said her back straight and proper.

"He's the only one I can think of who knows that building well enough to invade it. If there was one person who could get us in an out, it's Kit." Andrew said nodding.

"So how do you purpose to find this Kit?" My dad asked.

Andrew scratched his neck.

"You don't know, do you?" Derek said relaxing back into his former position. Andrew glared at him.

"I can't exactly call him back, he called from a payphone. He said he was call back when he was closer and safe. I can't do much till then. I do have his email addresses. I've been sending him cryptic emails but he hasn't replied yet." He sighed.

A loud bang made everyone in the room jump to their feet. I felt my heart begin to race, was it another repeat of the safe-house? Were we being attacked again? No. Please. Not again.

"It's okay, calm down everyone." Andrew sighed gripping his chest over his heart. "It's a signal from Doug, someone is at the door. That's all."

Everyone piled out of the room and towards the entrance. Liz ran ahead of us. Derek came up beside me and grabbed my hand. I looked up at him and noticed how serious his face was, this couldn't be good. Doug came through the door first, unknowingly walking right through Liz. "Who here?" Jeff said running up to meet him.

"He's back." Doug said but before anyone could ask him who I felt Derek's grip on my hand tightened and William walked through the door. He smiled casually as the rest of us tensed at his powerful presence.

"Hello, everyone." William nodded to us.

"Good evening Mr. Tripp." My dad said rather businesslike from behind me making me look back at him shocked. He was about to walk past me and reach for a handshake from William when Derek reached pass me and grabbed his shoulder. "Wha-?"

"Dad don't." I hissed. He looked at me confused. My eyebrow rose, "didn't Andrew tell you?"

"Tell me what?" He said stepping back a few from Derek's reach.

"Sorry to interrupt your beautiful morning but I'm here on official pack business." William said adjusting a ring on his left hand.

"Of course," Andrew said finally finding his voice. "Is there a problem?"

"I guess you could call it that." William smiled.

"Is it about Liam? Did you catch him?" I asked, Derek's hand squeezed mine giving me a silent warning.

William smiled brightly at me. Almost charming, in a creepy way. "You need not worry about that trash anymore young Miss. Liam has been terminated for the welfare of the community. He won't be coming after you ever again."

I heard Tori let out a giant sigh of relief.

"But no, that is not why I'm here." His eyes went straight to Derek. "No, my boss has sent me here to give our young Sir here a message. More than that, really, an offer." Derek's muscles tensed. "Our Alpha has taken a great interest in you lad. And he should. Your story is very intriguing."

"William, Derek is still a kid-." Andrew started but a look from William made him stop.

"I am not here to take the boy tonight, Andrew; it is always the boy's choice. No I am here to deliver a message and try and convince that is all." William's gaze went back to Derek. "That is, unless, he chooses to come with me tonight. Then you should not stop us. If you all wouldn't mind I would like to talk to the boy alone."

No one moved.

William pretended not to have noticed our unwillingness to leave. He walked up to me and Derek; he stopped a good two feet in front of us. Derek tugged on my arm, pulling me once again behind him. I saw William's gaze go between me and Derek for a second before smiling at Derek. "I don't think we've been properly introduced yet." He held out his hand waiting for Derek to shake it. "I am William G. Tripp, and I am here to deliver an invitation to you, Derek Souza. My leader wishes for you to become one of us, and join our pack. He believes that we all can benefit from this, and hopes you will consider his offer."

Derek didn't answer or reach out for William's hand, he just glared at him. William's smile twitched a bit and his hand fell to his side slowly. "You're not the talkative type, are you son?" He chuckled. "Listen boy," His voice held a bit of an edge now causing the hair on the back of my neck to stand on end. "You're at a big disadvantage right now. A wolf without a pack will always be on edge. There will never be a moment of peaceful sleep. This is your chance to be welcomed into an understanding family. We treat each other like brothers, and we will treat you the same way. You need a family to protect you. We can help you, if you only help us."

Derek eye's sharpened as he starred straight into William's eyes. I held on tight to Derek's hand grabbing his arm with my other hand. I thought Derek wasn't going to say anything, so did William who opened his mouth to say more when Derek spoke up. "I have gone through a lot, but I have a family. And they need me more than I need you right now." William's forehead creased. "Thanks for the offer but I can't leave them now."

I smiled.

"You don't have to decide now, of course." William said through his teeth. "But I feel an obligation to tell you this…This _family_ of yours, how long until they don't need you anymore? How long until they abandon you like a misbehaving mutt on the side of the road? Are kind, are not accepted by anything other than our own kind. This family won't stay your family forever. They'll start to hate you, distance themselves from you. And you'll be all alone. It's a cruel world out there, Derek, and _**we**_ need to stick together."

Derek didn't answer.

William's stare turned to me; he was starting to get angry you could feel it in the air. "Don't ruin your chances at a real family just because some blue eyed harpy blinked her long lashes at you. You'll regret it, trust me."

I felt a strange fire grow inside me. It was different than when Doug had insulted Derek, this time I felt offended personally. "Now wait a second." I growled. I felt Derek push me behind him, but I pushed forward and was able to keep eye contact with William. "You don't know me. Don't be assuming what I'm going to do and what I'm not going to do." William blinked, taken aback. "I'm not afraid of you. And how do you know what a real family is and isn't? I know he's different, hell we all are. I owe Derek my life; if it wasn't for him we'd all be dead. I won't ever forget that."

"Me either." Simon said standing right next to Derek now. "Derek's my brother, even if we're not blood related. We're in this for the long haul."

"I have to admit. Without him, we'd all be dead." Tori mumbled. Everyone seemed to be standing closer to each other. Trying to build a wall, almost, daring William to try something.

"There's your answer, William," Derek chuckled. "This is my family. They're not going anywhere. Even if I'm rejecting an amazing offer, I'm sorry, I can't leave them. That's real family."

William straightened up and closed his eyes. All of a sudden he started to laugh and the air around us suddenly became much lighter. "Well, well." He said shaking his head. "I'll hold you to that then, boy." He winked at me before turning and leaving without another word.

Everyone let out a sigh all at once. Jason and his dad started laughing.

"Damn, Chloe!" Tori said her eyes wide and her smiling approvingly. "When did you grow a back bone that big?"

"That was a foolish thing you did, Chloe." Andrew said shaking his head. "That man is older and stronger than you could imagine."

"Could someone please tell me what was going on?" My dad said coming up next to me again.

Andrew sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't tell you Saunders. I just didn't want to frighten you. William is the second strongest Werewolf in the New York territory. He's nearly ninety six years old. He could rip a man in half before he even had a chance to blink. But he was the only way for us to get such a great hiding place."

I saw my dad's face tighten, he looked at me disapprovingly. I was still clinging onto Derek. "I'm sorry…I don't know where it came from." I said trying to make up an excuse. He sighed before walking away. Jason and Jeff both gave me thumbs up before walking away after him. Andrew, Doug and Janet walked away heads together discussing something about William.

Liz jumped in front of me, "whatever the old geezers say, that was awesome. No ninety year old delivery boy is going to break up the team!" We all started to walk back towards the meeting room, but Simon kept looking back at Derek. I looked up and noticed he looked stressed.

"Hey Tori, Let's go and see what the kitchen has to offer." Simon said throwing his arm around her neck and leading her down the opposite hall way. She barked a few choice swear words at him and his new found cheerfulness. He looked over his shoulder as he was going and winked at Derek, who nodded.

Once they were gone and out of sight Derek pulled me into an the nearest unused office. He shut the door quietly behind him but stayed in place for a while. I started to feel uneasy. Liz peaked inside but I told her with a quick short hand motion to leave us for awhile.

"You're going to start shouting at me now aren't you?" I said glaring at him. "So what? I'm not allowed to protect you or -."

"No. It's…not…" He said speaking through his teeth. "I'm…not going to shout…" He let out a deep breath and didn't say anything else.

"Umm…Derek, listen, I'm sorry-." I started to say when the silence became unbearable.

"Thank you." Derek mumbled. I smiled. He looked over his shoulder. "You shouldn't have done that. But thanks anyway."

"Well, I couldn't let him call me a harpy and get away with it." I said rolling my shoulders. "And I wasn't going to let him take you away just yet."

"Oh really?" He said rising in eye brow and coming to stand in front of me. "Why's that?"

"I'm not done with you yet." I smiled up at him. "And I don't plan on it ever happening." He chuckled, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. His hand didn't leave my face.

"You're becoming quite a handful. Could you do me one more favor? No more Werewolf showdowns for you please? Unless you _**want**_ to give me and your dad a heart attack." I shrugged; it must have been torture on him. William had a strange effect on us, I couldn't even imagine the stress Derek felt around him. I reached up and pulled his head down so our foreheads were pressed against each other.

"I'll try." I finally said, looking into his green eyes inches away from my own.

"Good." He sighed.

DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS!

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	15. Chapter 15: When Things Fall Apart

A few days went by with nothing. No phone calls, no emails, absolutely no contact with the outside world. Doug was the only one who went outside, apparently to guard the entrance. We were basically trapped inside.

It wasn't that bad actually. Nice food, clean cloths, running water and peace and quiet. It was completely different than Andrew's first safe house. It actually felt safer, like an underground bunker sealed tight. I have to give Andrew credit, using an old werewolf building was a perfect cover. For now. Janet's warning had been bothering me. She wasn't a fortune teller but she sure seemed to know a lot about everything.

But for now I relaxed, Four days had gone by without even a whisper of trouble. Derek and me spent a lot of time together, watching TV or reading. Andrew and Jason had been helping Tori and Simon learn to control and use their powers. But seeing how we were fresh out of Necromancers and Werewolf teachers me and Derek were forced to reading about the theory instead of actually being taught it. Jeff seemed to be a good teacher on the supernatural; he was some help with answering minor questions but he mostly just kept out of our way.

Most of the stuff they had on Necromancers wasn't much a help to me either. It scared me more than anything. According to the books, Necromancers needed the aid of certain herbs and chants just like the mediums you saw in ghost movies to raise or call the dead. Only the masters could do without. I didn't need any of that. I could do the most difficult of Necromancy without even knowing I was doing it. That couldn't be good. I asked Jeff about it and he looked away nervous.

"_Chloe, all I can tell you is to be cautious. Whatever they did to you, your power is out of control. The only thing you can do is find a way to control it before it controls you." He told me and walked away._

_That's loads of help, thanks Jeff. _I thought glaring at his back as he walked away. And went back to reading. The only conclusion I could come up with was the same advice Janet had given me. Meditation. There were a few chants in the book that apparently where suppose to quiet the _magical flux _with my aura. Derek had to help me translate the chants so I was speaking them right and then help me memorize them.

My dad seemed too had gotten use to me and Derek now. He glared a lot at first, but then through the miracle of television he and Derek found a common interest: Their taste in Sports teams. It kind of snowballed from there and by the second day they were talking in earnest about the upcoming draft. But today dad had run dry on vacation days and was forced back to work. He gave me an emergency phone number and told me to call him if I ever needed him. I made sure I had it memorized before getting rid of it.

I was in the middle of my new daily routine Mediation when Doug came running down the hall. It had been a game lately for me trying to figure out what Doug was. Andrew wouldn't tell me, he said that most supernatural's keep their powers hidden even from other supernaturals. Especially the rare one's, they didn't like to boast. Every time I tried to guess, Doug would just smile, shake his head and walk away. I was pretty sure he wasn't a wizard that seemed to be the least rare of all the supernatural's seeing how they had the majority. But that left a lot of others to choose from. Whatever his power was, apparently it was the perfect for guarding the building

I looked over at Derek who had been reading silently in the corner, he now looked troubled and got up to look down the hall.

"What is it?" I hissed to Derek. He shook his head and then motioned with his hand to follow him. I got up quickly and grabbed his outstretched hand and he led me down the hall. I think it was mostly for my benefit to be able to hear the conversation. I knew he could hear just fine. Damn werewolf super hearing.

"This isn't good, Andrew." Doug said. Andrew came running out of the room he'd been using as a classroom for Simon and Tori. Janet was there and so was Jeff. "They know who we are now, what if-."

"Calm down Doug. We need to think this through-." Andrew started raising his hands.

"What's going on?" Jason said rubbing the sweat off his neck with a towel, Simon and Tori following after him in about the same condition.

"Simon, Tori. Go and sit with Derek and Chloe. There in the Living Room." Andrew said looking off in space rather at them.

"Wha? Hell no. We need to know what's going on too." Simon said glaring at Andrew.

"Simon please." Andrew pleaded. Simon rubbed his neck before storming off. Tori following after him. Simon was almost too upset to notice that we were eavesdropping at the corner of the hall instead of the living room. Derek raised his finger to his lips motioning for him to be quiet and we all went back to our snooping.

"Now can you tell me what's going on?" Jason said folding his arms.

"Leslie and the girls are missing. They never arrived at their cousins and Leslie's car was found deserted and burned to a crisp on the side of some back country road. They have them." Doug said almost in one breath.

"By '_they_' you mean…" Jason said losing all the friendliness in his voice. Andrew hummed a yes, apparently still trying to devise a plan.

I looked over at Simon and Tori with wide eyes. We knew who _they _were. Derek had his eyes closed, concentrating. Simon put his hand over his face, rubbing his eyes like he was tired.

"_What now?" _Tori mouthed to me. I shook my head sadly. Not again.

Would we ever be able to lead a normal life ever again? Why couldn't those monsters leave us alone? We heard the group down the hall slowly move away. We all looked to Derek waiting for him to tell us when they were out of earshot.

"This is bad." He finally said looking over to Simon and then me.

"I hope there okay." I said fighting back the urge to scream.

"You know what this is don't you?" Tori said breathing heavily. We all looked over at her shocked by her sudden flare. "There bait. These bastards are just going to keep finding people we care about, kidnap 'em and wait till were stupid enough to go and rescue them."

"Yeah." Derek agreed with her. "They're playing with us."

"But why?" Simon asked.

"Because they don't want the public finding out what they did to us." I said walking into the center of the circle we had made. "I don't think that experimenting on children is under the Human Rights law, they need to clean up after themselves. I don't think they want any of us back. I think they just want our bodies now."

"So they can cut us open and see where they went wrong. Preparing for experiment batch number two!" Tori said through gritted teeth. "DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! DAMN!" she cursed stomping her feet like a three year old throwing a temper tantrum. "I'm sick of it!" I backed away from her. She was starting to get angry and I knew from experience what happens when Tori get angry.

"Tori calm down." Derek said reaching out and grabbing her shoulder. "Calm down."

"No! I don't want to calm down."Tori said tears welling in her eyes and taking a few steps backwards. She hit her breaking point. "I want to go to school, go to dances, and do homework! I want my old life back! BUT I CAN'T! Have you seen my mom lately? Now I'm not the only one who thinks she's the devil incarnate! Now she's got two completely innocent girls under her well manicured over priced nails and how long till she tortures them enough that they spill where were hiding? Then were out on the streets again! I can't do this anymore!"

I felt it, and I know Derek and Simon did to. The power starting to emanate from Tori. It was like the air was full of static electricity, making it difficult to breathe. Derek held out a hand to motion to Simon to step away from her. Tori through her hands over her head and tugged on her hair. She started jerking, the magic inside her was raging war on her body. This wasn't good…

"Derek what's wrong with her?" Simon said with a raspy voice as an unknown force of wind bashed against us, somehow coming from Tori also.

"She's angry." I said grabbing Derek's arm.

"No." Derek said, his shoulders tensing and forcing me behind him so he could shield me from ever was going to happen. "She's frightened, I can smell it."

I saw the flash of red before I recognized it as Janet streaming past us. I thought she was going to tackle Tori, but instead she stopped in time to place her hands on the sides of Tori's face and then press their foreheads together.

Almost instantly the power around us disappeared. Both Tori and Janet fell to the ground on their knees, Janet's hands still on Tori's face.

"I'm sorry!" Tori Squeaked, shaking uncontrollably. "I'm so sorry!" Tears were streaming down her cheeks. "I didn't mean to!" I could see I now, her wide eyes were full of fear not anger.

"Shh, now child. I know, I know." Janet said in a very convincing motherly voice. "There now." She pulled Tori in to an embrace, patting her hair. Tori cried, gripping Janet like she was her link to life. We just watched in awe as Tori recovered from her breakdown. It had happened so quickly, if Janet hadn't been there…hadn't stopped her….what would've happened?

"What happened?" Tori was the first to ask in between breaths. "I didn't mean to, I just got so mad…so scared….I couldn't…..I couldn't stop it!"

"It's okay. It wasn't entirely your fault." Janet said looking up at me. I could see how week the exchange had left her. I had to admire her, Janet care about others much more then herself.

"I don't want that to ever happen again." Tori said pulling away from Janet.

"It won't child. But only if you watch your temper." Janet said weekly standing up. Derek used a hand to steady her. "Thank you." She whispered. "Chloe mentioned that you had a fever a while back." Janet said turning around and holding onto Derek's arm to keep her balance. Derek nodded. She looked to Simon. "Have you felt odd lately boy, any outburst like the one just previous?"

"No." Simon said looking oddly frightened.

"Good. I believe my theory of each of you having different reactions to the repressed power is coming true." Janet sighed. Simon cautiously helped Tori to her feet.

"What?" Derek said. Janet looked at me. Apparently she thought I would've already have told them. I hadn't mentioned much of our previous conversation with the others yet. I didn't want to worry them. But I guess now was a good enough time as any.

Once I was done re-telling everything Janet had told me, Derek cursed under his breath. "This is bad."

"Yes." Janet said finally finding her strength and standing on her own. "Yes, it is."

"Have Leslie, O and Eve really been abducted?" Tori asked rubbing her shoulders still shaken.

"Yes. And it won't be long till the group is on our doorstep. No matter how strong Leslie is, Enright is stronger." Janet said looking at Tori. Tori's face constricted with anger but she quickly caught herself and starred at the floor.

"What now?" Simon asked.

"We need to leave." I said with confidence.

"Where do you think Andr-." Tori started.

"No." I interrupted her. "_WE_ need to leave. Just us four." I said looking up at Derek. He looked at me worried. But he gave me a slight nod, silently agreeing with me.

Our troubles didn't end there. No. Everything was just starting to fall apart.

Later that night Andrew called us all into the meeting room. And by all I meant him, Janet and us.

"Jason and Jeff are gone." Andrew sighed sounding defeated. We all stared at him in shock. "I'm not sure why. Jason left a while ago to answer a phone call. Doug say's not much later he saw him rush out of here like the devil was on his heels. When Jeff heard, he followed suit. Jason is his whole world; Jeff wasn't going to let his only son go out there alone."

"Who was the phone call from?" Derek said leaning forward.

"No clue. Jason seemed upset by the number. Said it was a private matter. I wouldn't be so worried if not for the disappearances of Leslie and the girls." Andrew muttered.

"Now what, Andrew?" Tori said next to him. Andrew opened his mouth but I didn't hear what he said. All my attention changed when I heard Liz scream. Liz had made herself scarce lately, mostly just watching Tori and Simon's lessons. But there was complete terror in her voice now as I bolted out of my chair and turned around.

Every one stopped to look at me.

"Liz what's wrong?" I shouted my heart already racing.

"There here, Chloe!" She said finally coming into focus ghostly tears streaming on her face. "T-t-they found us, they found us and are coming. You've got t-t-t-to get out of here. H-he's Dead! They killed him!"

"Liz calm down, who killed who?" I said but Andrew answered my question instead.

"DOUG!"

I looked around, I had been so focused on Liz I hadn't felt the surge of power that always announced William's arrival. In his arms, was the dead body of a young slender man with blond hair wearing a dirty old Yankees baseball cap. I looked confused at Andrew's outburst, that wasn't Doug.

William shoulders were tense as we stared at him. Slowly he walked in to the room and placed the man on the table in front of us. "I'm sorry for your loss, I arrived too late to save him. I tried, but all I could do was kill the man who killed him." He stepped back allowing Andrew space.

"Andrew what's going on!" Simon shouted his voice shaky looking at the dead man on the table. "Who is this?"

Andrew shaking hand went to the man's death filled eyes and closed them. His hand still lay gingerly on his face as he muttered a spell that I couldn't understand. A buzz of magic filled the room and when it was gone, the man with blond hair was gone with it. Instead it left Doug's lifeless body in its place.

I felt the apple return to my throat. _No…No….no…not Doug…._My hands went to my mouth to stop my trembling lip.

"Damn!" I heard Derek hiss as he stepped back from the table. His hand going to his mouth almost like there was an awful stench, but I guess his nose was sensitive than average. Tori backed away too her chair falling back wards at she scrambled away from the table. She backed up into Simon, but Simon didn't push her off he just grabbed her shoulder in a comforting gesture. Liz was gone; the minute William came into the room I had seen her disappear. She must have seen it…seen Doug being….

"No, no Doug. He was…." Andrew said holding back his pain. "I'm…. I'm so sorry."

"Tell him I don't blame him."

I jumped and let out a squeak. Of course I should've been looking for him, but I had been swept up in my own pain. Doug's ghost was standing behind me, smiling. Derek ran to my side but I pushed him away.

"Go on girly tell him I'm okay." Doug said folding his arms.

"A-A-andrew?" I said, he looked up and noticed my attention was turned away from the body and instead focused elsewhere.

"Is…Is he still here?" Andrew asked. I nodded, tears streaming down my face.

"He's says it's not your fault." I said biting my upper lip.

"What happened?" Andrew said rushing over to me and starring in the same direction as if by sheer force of will he'd be able to see him too. Doug's ghost rubbed his neck.

"I didn't see the bastard coming. I guess my powers of deception aren't as good as thought." Doug chuckled; I relayed the message to Andrew. "William didn't get there till I was on my last breath. Damn…never thought I would be thanking a Werewolf for avenging me." Doug smiled shaking his head in disbelief. "Caught me from behind, coward….but the guy was alone. It won't take long for them to notice he's missing. And when they do they'll send out all their bastard hounds looking for him. It won't be long before there banging on our door." I took a deep breath trying to stop myself from being overcome by tears.

"No, now don't cry, Chloe." Doug said reaching up and trying to wipe the tears away from my face. Failing when his hand couldn't make contact with my skin. "I lived a good life, and leave nothing undone. Once I'm talking to you, I'll be able to rest in peace. My only regret is that I can't help protect you anymore. But I believe that I've waited long enough to see my daughters smiling faces, don't you think?" I smiled at him nodding. Then curiosity caught me.

"Powers of deception?"

"Still haven't figured it out. Eh?" He smiled wide, remembering my little game. "Fine, I guess I can tell ya. I'm a…Or better said I _was_ a Meta-morph. A type of half demon who obtains the ability to disguise himself as anyone. I'm good at changing my appearance, makes me a good watch dog, now doesn't it? Get it now?" I nodded. "Good, Good. Now tell Andrew that he'd better high tail it out of here. I'm guessing it's not safe here anymore."

"It's not safe anywhere anymore." I said but told Andrew none the less. Everyone started moving; Andrew and Janet were making plans and hurrying around the halls at Doug's warning, Simon and Tori helping. Everyone but, me, Derek and William. William hadn't moved, he just starred at the body before him but I could tell he was listening and watching me out of the corner of his eye.

"Behave yourself Chloe. Bah! You're too good a girl to misbehave, but you can keep an eye on your friends here. And one more thing…Your not a monster, and neither is that boy. Don't you ever let anyone tell you otherwise." I opened my mouth to say something but he held up a hand. "Now I won't hear any more of it. Would a monster help a poor old man like me finally cross over and see his family once again? No, it wouldn't. Now Chloe, would you please? I'm not sure I know the way."

"Of c-course." I said and I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I pictured Doug and the description he had given me of his family and I pushed his spirit towards whatever afterlife they were in. I begged myself to get this right, I had to, I had to help him.

"Thanks Chloe." I felt him say but when I opened my eyes he was gone. I turned around and looked over at his body lying on the table. Derek squeezed my shoulder. I let out a shaky sigh and reached up and grabbed his hand. "He's gone now."

"He's moved on." Derek said. "We have to go now."

I nodded.

"Where are you going to go?" William said breaking his silence. Derek and I looked over, acknowledging him for the first time.

"We don't know." I said.

"We need to find my dad. He'll be able to break into the Edison Group and get Chloe's Aunt and our friends out." Derek said looking William in the eye. They starred each other down; minutes went by until William sighed, his shoulders shaking from hidden laughter.

"I have to say, boy, you've got guts. I like that. Andrew told me you were waiting for this Kit to get a hold of you. But, boy, the Edison Group is coming to you." William said watching Andrew running down the hall. He scratched his chin and his face stubble. "I have an idea but I'm pretty sure you won't like it…." William looked at me, and I heard Derek growl from behind me. Whatever his plan was, I had a feeling it wasn't going to be easy. "And who knows, if it works, then we'll finally get rid of those bastards-sorry, excuse my language young miss-once and for all."

My gaze shifted to Doug's body. I felt the fire growing inside me again. I wasn't going to let anymore of my friends die….My grip tightened on Derek's hand. "What do you have in mind?"

William smiled wickedly.

_**DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS**_

_**All most done**_

_**Time for Chole to kick some ass! Lol maybe….**_

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	16. Chapter 16: Interogation

_**DEREK'S POV**_

"_Hurry up, and for god's sake be quiet!" _William hissed under his breath as everyone ran out of the underground tunnel. I stood where I was glaring at the way we come. I could see farther into the dark than the others, and the unwelcoming tunnel felt like a giant snake waiting to swallow me whole.

The sound of the expensive European car door shut behind me, it was so quiet I was sure no normal human could hear anything. _Damn. _I keep repeating it over and over in my head. _Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn. _

William cautiously walked up behind. I could tell he was testing how far my patience with him would go. Stupid werewolf dominance games. I let out a faint growl to warn him how close I was from losing control. And I was pretty damn close.

"I'm sorry Souza. We need to go now." William said releasing the power around him trying to make me feel more comfortable around him. But whatever he did, I was almost certain I would never be able to be comfortable around him.

"Why are you helping us?" I said through clenched teeth.

He let out an uneasy laugh. "I might not be able to bring the whole pack into this matter, but as an individual I can give you all the assistance I can. I have a soft spot for pups." It had been the same excuse he had given us after he had explained his plan. I cracked my neck, remembering that moment wasn't helping my anger right now.

"You should have used me as bait." I hissed, my throat was dry and every nerve in my body was twitching. I needed to act now. If I ran maybe I could make it back to them in time…

"Don't even think about it boy. They want you dead; they would've killed you on the spot. Not very good bait. Trust me they won't do any harm to those three, they're too valuable._"_

"_Don't you understand!" _I hissed finally turning around to face him. Both of our eyes were bright with anger, the wolf was close to the surface. "If anything happens to her, I will personally see to it that you are-." I bit of the last word. "I won't be able to live with myself."

William looked away, which meant a lot to a werewolf's mojo. It meant that he either respected me, or was admitting defeat. I tried to take a few deep breaths, I needed to calm down.

"If what you tell me is true, than young Chloe will be able to take care of herself just fine. Your Job is to find Kit and bring in the Calvary. If you do that than Chloe will be just fine."

I wanted to scream. I wanted to run back and save her from those bastards…but she had been the one who had screamed at me to go. Damn it Chloe, I made a promise to you and I was damned if I was going to break it now.

_**CHLOE'S POV**_

Ugh, my head was pounding. What happened? I was awake but without opening my eye's I tried to figure out where I was. There was something uncomfortably tight on my back. My arms hurt the way they were twisted behind me. Then I recognized the cold metal around my wrists. I was chained to a chair. Okay. I imagined myself taking a deep breath. _Enter Chloe, stage right._

I twitched my fingers first. Then slowly rolled my neck to relieved the stress gravity had done on it while I sleep. The groan I did was real. Damn it hurt. I blinked in the faint light; I was in a big dark room where I couldn't see any exits. I tried to move my hands, nothing. My arms and legs were the same story. I was trapped.

A loud bang made me jump. A door must be behind me. My breathing was coming in quick short burst. I heard the faint clicking of expensive high heels coming towards me. And then I felt some one stroke the top of my head. Her long nails scratching my scalp but not painfully. It was making my spine tingle.

"Hmn, I have to admit Chloe. You did a good job running from us."Mrs. Enright mused. I thought I heard pride in her voice. "Now why couldn't I have had a daughter… a daughter like you?" She stepped in front me. An evil smile spread wide across her face. "I like you Chloe. You're exactly what I wanted to have." She bent down so we were eye level to each other. She reached up and stroked my cheek with her cold hands. "You're perfect."

I starred at her with wide eyes. Her hand didn't leave my cheek, her nails still touching my skin. "Now sweetie, I'm going to ask you some questions and I'm going to need you to answer them okay?" I glared at her. "Where is everyone else? Hmm? The boys, Victoria?"

I forced my eyes to grow wider, I seen plenty of movies to know how I needed to act to seem believable. I just hope Mrs. Enright hadn't seen too many of them as well.

"Chloe? Where are they?" I heard her voice growing sterner. Sweat started to glow on my skin. I saw my distress in her eyes, she was believing it. "Ah, but the Chloe I know won't give up her friends. She'll fight tooth and nail no matter what I give her. You know, Victoria would've sold you out an instant. She doesn't have what you have."

"H-had…." I said whispering. She didn't hear me she leaned in closer.

"What was that dear?"

I didn't repeat myself just stared straight ahead. The next second my skin was on fire. I screamed, gasping for air. The flames felt like they were coming from Enright's finger tips. I cried out it hurt so much. Even when she let go of me and stepped away it continue to burn.

"Tell me everything Chloe." I heard her say amused.

I jerked against my chains, I tried to get free but it was useless. I heard Enright snap her fingers and in one instant the fire was gone. I gasp in the cold air breathing heavily, my heart pounding against my chest so hard I could feel my rib cage shaking.

"Now, I won't do that to you again, but you have to tell me everything you know. Where are the rest of the kids? Who else is working with your little resistant group…Chloe where are Derek, Simon and Victoria?"

I looked up at her tears streaming down my face. That when I saw her. A girl no older than eighteen was standing behind Enright. She seemed off, like she shouldn't be there, her hands were covering her mouth and she seemed too horrified by what she was seeing. Enright hadn't noticed her yet so I focused my attention back to her. Enright raised her eyebrow and then raised her hand and snapped her fingers again.

It started all over again. But worse. My skin felt like it was being peeled off with a rusty blade along with being on fire. It was too much. I was going to die. I screamed and thrashed against my restraints desperate for it to end, to die. For the pain to be gone. Then I remember everyone I had to protect, everyone who would die if I didn't save them. I found my voice and readied myself to scream. I had to sound real, because right now with all the pain _it felt real. _"There dead!" I cried out. "There all dead!" I let my shoulders drop once Enright broke her spell to show how defeated I was.

"What?" She said tapping her foot and crossing her arms.

"There all dead." My voice squeaked. "Simon…Tori…Derek…I'm the only one left…." I started to cry then, I was shocked how easy was to cry. The tears flowed down my face and onto my lap.

"How?" There was no emotion in her face.

"S-Simon…and Tori. Liam…. He was a rouge werewolf he wanted to take me and Derek…He killed them when they were protecting us…Derek tried to help, but it was too late….Derek he…he couldn't…He lost it. He went berserk. He almost…Some other werewolf found us, he was…someone important with the local pack…he killed Derek. That's when I found Andrew again…I'm all alone now…all alone."

I weakly looked up at her to see if she bought my act. She wasn't looking at me but at the door she had come from. Her hand on her chin like she was thinking hard. I chanced a glance behind her the girl was still there. I was able to get a better look at her now. Her clothes looked like hospital or mental patients cloths. Her dirty blond hair was tied messily back into a pony tail, and I noticed that she had tattoo's all up both her arms disappearing under her shirt sleeves. She noticed me looking at her and I saw her eyes widen like… like I was the first person to see her in a long time.

_Ghost_

"What about the other's with you?" Enright asked still emotionless. Heartless was more like it…I had just told her that her daughter was dead and she didn't care. _What a bitch._ I thought

"I…I don't know….There was just Andrew and that woman. They said they'd take care of me…" I gasped trying to move arm so it was a little more comfortable in the chair. "C-Can I please get off this chair. My a-a-arm.."

"Maybe in a minute. When were done and I like you answers…" Enright mused circling me like a vulture. "How about Jeff Wise? We were certain the traitor was working with you."

"Jeff…I don't know about a Jeff…Just Andrew." I said breathing heavily.

"Well I know your lying now dear. His son was working for us the whole time did you know that? Jason." Enright smiled at me.

I looked at her wide eyed and had to force myself not to turn to look at the ghost automatically when I heard her gasp. Lucky she was close enough that I could get away with slightly moving my head like I was speechless.

"There is no way in hell my Jason would ever work for a Bitch like you!" The ghost shrieked her eyes filling with tears.

"Jason has gone missing, and he is a vital asset in our future plans. His magic is advanced and we need all the competent Wizards we can behind us. Jeff on the other hand is useless to us. But he could become a problem. Now where is he?"

"J-Jason…Jason left us….He left us in New York. After…He said he had enough babysitting and was going to finish what he started… I never meet Jeff…. He must have b-been one of the men who ran away when the first attack happened…" I tried to keep my face blank as I watched the ghost grow more desperate. She walked right up to Enright even though she couldn't see her.

"Don't think you're going to get away with it you fricken Bitch! You know all too well that you called Jason and blackmailed him with my body into giving up those kids hideout! You don't give a rat's ass what happens to Jeff or any of those kids. You're just a heartless spineless old hag!" She yelled right in her face.

"P-p-please…my arm…" I whined. Enright looked at me and then rolled her shoulders.

"Fine. Fine. Good Job, Chloe. Maybe you're not a total loss. I would really like to keep you." She said stepping close to me and patting my head like I was her lap dog and then walking out of the room. I let out the breath I had been holding in. And then I focused on the ghost who had walked in front of me and knelt down just like Enright had.

"Can you see me?" She asked.

I took a deep breath which gave me an excuse to nod my head.

"It hurts like hell doesn't it? She did the same thing to me; I've been here a long time. She thinks I know all this stuff and I don't understand a damn thing she's asking." She let out a half hearted chuckle.

Just then a guard came through the door and untied me. I gingerly stood up; my legs were cramped and hurt like hell. But I followed the guard with my head down, hoping that the ghost had noticed the movement I made with my hand to follow me. I couldn't chance looking back without someone noticing.

The guard led me back to exactly the same room I had had weeks ago when they had me the first time. A tray had been left out on the bed side table with a glass of orange juice and a turkey sandwich. I ignored the food and just went to the bed and curled around the pillow. Once the door was shut and locked I looked around. Still no cameras none that I could see at least.

From what I could tell everything was going smoothly. William's plan to place some of us inside and some outside to take down the Groups nest was dangerous. But it was the only way I could see us finally getting rid of them. Derek hadn't like it, it got so bad that we had started yelling at each other. I didn't want our short separation to be left with a shouting match but it had been the only way to make him let me go. We had just enough time to relay the plan to Andrew and Janet and get our stories straight before we could hear the Edison group breaking through Andrew's defensive spells. There was no time to argue anymore, we had a plan and I had my fingers crossed it would work. Of course I hadn't told William exactly how I planned to cause a ruckus inside but I felt like he might not approve. Heck I wasn't too happy about it either but I was the only one who could do it.

I sighed and then waited and in a few moments the ghost girl was in my room. She just appeared in the corner.

"Hey, there…Chloe was it?"

"Yea. Who are you?" I asked a little shaky still from my encounter with Enright.

"Reilly. Just a lonely tattoo artist. I haven't had a real conversation in months. You know Jason Wise? He's my sweetheart." She said just as shaky as me, but she smiled all the same. She pulled down her shirt slightly and I saw a neatly old fashion written name that I took said Jason. "I bet he's been looking for me all this time. That boy could never just let anything go without a fight."

Just then I remembered what had happened the last time I had summoned a ghost inside this place. The demon. Why hadn't it possessed her ghost yet? I looked around waiting for it to come back but nothing happened.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your friends…" She said quietly.

I caught her eye and smiled sheepishly. She smiled wide. "You were lying? Let me tell you girl you're pretty convincing."

My smile faded. "I'm sorry for what they did to you. I had a close friend of mine who was killed by them too-."

"Oh hold up, girl." Reilly raised her hands. "I'm not dead." I looked at her with sad eyes. Had she not accepted it yet?

"I'm a Necromancer, I see ghosts. If you're not dead then what are you?" I said cocking my head.

"To tell you the truth I don't understand it at all. My body is three rooms down the hall to the left, still breathing and hooked up to life support. Whatever the big bad bitch did the last time she 'Interrogated' me well…you saw what she can do…" She shivered at the memory. "I'm not sure why there keeping my body, but there's a few scientist who seem to be running tests on it. But I'm not dead."

"You're a Shaman." I said smiling brightly.

She looked at me her eyebrows raised. "I do remember them saying that a few times."

I sighed. "So that's why the Demon thing can't posses you she needs a soul that has lost connection with its body and yours is still threaded to its soul."

"Excuse me, Demon?" Reilly said shocked.

"_You rang?" _

I jumped to my feet, Reilly looked around she obviously heard it too. "What the hell?" She shrieked.

"Calm down. She can't hurt us, not unless I permit her to come." I said still looking around.

"Oh, such a kill joy young Necro." I heard the demon whine. "I've been watching the young Shaman girl walk around here aimlessly for months, and you can't allow me even a bit of fun?"

"No I can't." I said, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. "We have business to discuss."

"Do we?" I heard the eagerness in her voice.

"Yes." I said, I knew what I was about to do was risky but it was the only thing that would assure our escape. And I had to help Aunt Lauren and everyone else. "Hypothetically what are you asking for and what do I get in return?"

"I like where you're going young Necromancer. I want to be free. You free me and I will help you get revenge on these low lives who imprison you."

I thought about what it said for a long time before shaking my head. "What will happen if I free you?"

"Just a teensy bit of chaos, no one will know the difference. I need to return to my master before he grows even angrier."

"How about this." I said folding my arms and starring off into space. "I will proposition terms of release and if you agree on them I will consider freeing you?"

I loud laugh echoed across the room making me and Reilly return to our frantic search to find where the voice was coming from…it sounded like it was coming from everywhere. "That kind of thinking will keep you alive young-in. Fine what are your terms."

"I need a diversion. I need to rescue all my friends who are held here and get away without being captured again. I have friends who are working on the outside and are planning on breaking in soon to rescue me, I need to be ready when they are. Can you help me do that? Also without harming any of these people who are close to me?"

"Trust me child. My kind must stay true to their word; if I agree to your terms I must abide by them or else fade. You say you need a diversion. I can give you that. Once I am free this place will lose all the magical properties it once held and fall apart. These lab rats will be thrown into a frenzy like none you'll ever see. The lost souls who hid here from me will also be released. This will cause you enough havoc to find your friends and get the hell out. And as for not harming you, I will make it my duty in protecting you from most magic's that Enright hag could conjure till you see fit to release me as shield. Are those suitable terms?"

I starred at Reilly worried. "Is there a way to awaken Reilly?"

"Hmm, the Shaman girl? As long as her body is still breathing her spirit can return to it at anytime. Is she one of these people you need to protect?"

"Yes." I said. Reilly smiled. "Okay, by these terms."

"I'll hold you to that child. Call me when you're ready. I will answer." And with that I felt the room empty like it had just been filled with a bunch of people and now only I and Reilly's spirit remained.

"Do you think it wise to awaken a demon?" Reilly chuckled nervously. "I mean I've seen plenty of horror movies that tell me that's a big no no."

"It's the only choice I have. My Aunt is here….well I hope she is. And I have a few friends who also are here. I have to help them." I sighed.

"There are a few people locked away in the west wing of this place. An older blond woman, a brunette woman with glasses and two twin girls." Reilly said counting on her fingers.

"Aunt Lauren. Leslie. Olivia. Geneva." I sighed in relief. "They're safe?"

"A little banged up. But okay. They brought two people in with you too but I haven't got a chance to look at them yet." She looked around still shaking off the demon's presence. "So what do we do now?"

I sat back down on the bed and leaned against the wall. "We wait."

_**DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS**_

_**Only two maybe three more chapters**_

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	17. Chapter 17: The Madness Begins

_Tick, tock, Tick, tock_

I don't remember there being a clock the last time I was imprisoned here. The only hand that actually worked on it was the little red second hand. So the big and little hand remained forever frozen on 8:15. It had to have been another torture method of theirs. This one was just jarring me mentally not physically.

"Tick tock ticky tock." I would find myself mumbling along to it. Damn I was going crazy. I wasn't tired; there was no way I was going to be able to sleep here. I wasn't hungry either. It was like adrenalin was rushing through my veins. It was going to be at least one more day before plan Armageddon would need to be activat..ed….w-what?

I was so crazy I had given the escape route a name. "That's it." I said out loud. "Chloe Saunders's, you have finally worried yourself into madness…." It had only been fourteen hours…It must have something to do with Mrs. Enright. Whatever she had done to me in the 'interrogation' room had put me on such an edge I was worrying myself to the point of being sick. That was just one experience I could do without ever enduring again.

I shook my head trying to get my thoughts off the rhythm of the clock. _Tick tock Tick Tock. _Was it me or was it getting louder….

My eyes grew wider when I realized it wasn't the clock anymore but footsteps echoing down the hall. I held my breath. They stopped at my door. _DAMN._ I bit my lip trying to compose my face as I heard the key jingling in the lock.

_**DEREK'S POV**_

I was on red alert when me and Tori walked into the public library together. I watched Tori bounce off to the computers without a hint of uneasiness. She was pretty good at the best of times with acting innocent but sometimes it was just plain creepy…I shook my head we had a job to do.

Trying to seem invisible, like I belonged here, I blended in with all the busy kids near the reference section of shelves. Absent mindedly taking a few off the shelves. I used this time to scope out the area with my ears, eyes and nose. Nothing odd or out of the ordinary. Nothing to spark any red flags. When I was satisfied that me and Tori seemed just like a couple of school kids researching for their next paper I went and sat next to her and her computer.

Tori was already had at work when I sat down next to her. She didn't even look up from the emails she was shifting through. I opened the first book on my pile and opened it to a random page and pretended to be interested in it.

"_Bingo!" _I heard her hiss after five minutes of computer hacking. I looked up anxious. "I've got him." She said in barely a below a whisper. "He sent Andrew an email on the one good account five hours ago." Dad was smart he had four email accounts all to leave a fake trail. The one we wanted was the one that proclaimed he was a sixteen year old girl who was obsessed with horses and becoming a vet. "He didn't say anything just left a phone number. But wait…that's not a cell phone number…It must be a pay phone." She said squinting at the screen.

"Can you find out where the pay phone is?" I asked leaning closer memorizing the number just in case.

"Of course." Tori replied. Her fingers dancing across the keyboard I looked over my shoulder trying to make it seem like we were waiting for someone just so I could keep a lookout. It didn't take her long. In about two minutes we had the area where the pay phone was located memorized and she was hard to work on erasing the internet log so no one could trace what site's she had been on. We were being extra careful but there was more than just our lives on the line.

We packed everything up and left without one single problem. It was easy. Far too easy. Looking both ways we J walked across the street over to the car where William and Simon were waiting.

"Did you find anything?" William asked once the door was shut and locked.

"We struck gold. He emailed us the number to a pay phone and I've got the address for where it is." Tori said tapping her head.

"Excellent!" Simon said hitting the dash with his fist. "Then what are we waiting for?"

It would only take us thirty minutes with William's crazy driving to get there. But I knew I'd be holding my breath the whole time. My fist clenched on my leg.

"Calm down, wolf boy, we're almost there." Tori said hitting me on the shoulder. I didn't acknowledge her. She let out a deep sigh. "You should be happy. Were about to find your dad, you and Simon will have him to make everything better. We're going to rescue Chloe and her Aunt so she'll have someone. And I'll just disappear into thin air. Poof! All your worries will be gone!"

"Where do you think you're going?" Simon said looking over from the front seat. I tilted my head to get a better look at Tori, there had been a sudden mood change in the car, then I noticed how worn out she looked. I don't think she really meant to say the last two sentences. "You don't think we're just going to kick you to the curve do you?"

"How heartless do you think we are?" I said but it came out with a little more vinegar than I wanted.

She looked out the window. Her voice was empty. "Sorry. I didn't mean it like…It's just hard you know. You guys all have someone…I've got no one. And I know you two don't like me because of the trouble I put Chloe through…" I looked at her before rubbing neck to release some of the pint up energy. She really had grown since the Lyle house. She wasn't as crazy as she use to be. Mind you, still crazy just not as much.

"I'm sure Dad won't mind letting you tag along. He always said he wish he had a daughter to spoil sometimes." I said returning my gaze to the window my eye's narrowing. I had been nervous of Tori ever since we rescued Andrew from his house. In the truck Andrew had made a comment about Tori and Simon and I remembered what Jason had let slip at that restaurant not too long ago.

"_Kit snores just as loud. Father, son and now daughter? Geez. Must be a hereditary thing."_ I was the only one who had heard him, and I knew that it must mean that Tori and Simon were related. I had asked Andrew once we had settled into the werewolf bunker. He knew. Damn, how long was Dad going to keep quiet that he had a daughter? Much less Tori.

I thought then of telling them, Tori and Simon I mean. But I shook it off. No. Dad had started this mess he should be the one to end it.

That's when I noticed the car slowing down. I un-buckled my seat belt and got ready. William put the car in park and reached into his pocket pulling out a cell phone. He tossed it back to me. "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" He said looking straight ahead never once looking me in the eye.

"No." I said my hand on the door handle.

"Come on D. At least let me go with you." Simon said from the front twisting to get a good look at me.

"No. If this is a trap I can get out it better if I'm alone. You stay in the car and if it looks like things are going bad…." I glared at him. He better listen to me for once.

"Get the hell out of dodge." Tori finished for me. I nodded and without another word I stepped out of the car and slammed the door. Hands in my pockets I walked down the somewhat disserted street. Once I was far enough away from the car I pulled out the phone and dialed the number. The pay phone just up the street rang. I walked up to it hanging up the phone. Three minutes went by. And then I felt a strange tingle come up from my toes before magic washed over me. I recognized it right away because the wind changed right then.

I caught the scents of three men coming from the black van parked a stone's throw away. All of them I knew instantly.

Jason. Jeff. And Dad.

_**Chloe's POV **_

I don't know what Dr. Davidoff was getting at when he took me out of my room and into his office. I tried not to look like I was confused, just nervous. He gestured to the seat across from him. I took it but hesitated till he sat down.

"I wanted to apologize for your losses. I suspect you had grown very close to Simon, Victoria and Derek. It is tragic that they were killed in such violent ways." He said folding his hands together. My eyebrow's slanted.

"What? Don't try to tell me you care about them. You wanted us all dead, you're just glad that you didn't have to dirty your own hands." I folded my arms and sat up straight. "You shot at us. With guns! You didn't want us alive…but then why am I still here. Hmm I wonder?" I put on the most mischievous smile I could manage.

"Yes, I guess you've already come to the right conclusion. You're very smart Chloe. I didn't give you enough credit last time we talked here. You're a vital asset to our future plans. There are too few of your kind left in our world. We need you to continue our research." He said his face never changing. If I was a good actor, Davidoff was ten time that.

"I never asked for this." I said looking away trying to sound childish. The more he thought me innocent the better off I was. "It's not fair."

"I know it isn't. But we all must play the cards we are dealt."

I stared off into the distance trying to act like I was hard at thinking. "Where is Rae?" I asked.

"Rachelle-."

"Don't lie to me. I'm sick of being lied to. You've caught me. There's nowhere for me to go now, I'm yours so I at least disserve the truth." I snapped at him looking him straight in the eye.

He sighed. "Fine. Rachelle escaped."

I blinked back shock and then thought twice. He might still be lying; Rae could just as well be dead.

"It seems we were wrong and thinking her mother was dead. Her mother has ways to trick us and we weren't expecting her to come. To sum it up, she came and took Rae back. But Rae had fulfilled her training. We are certain that she was a success. So even though her escape is troubling, it is not that much of a loss." I could feel something off in the way he spoke. Either he was lying or her escape was actually a big problem. I guess if Rae was dead there wasn't anything I could do. Reilly said that Rae had been here up until week ago when one day she just wasn't in her room anymore.

"Whatever." I said looking away again.

"So, Chloe. Will you work with us to control you powers and help us with our research?" Dr. Davidoff said leaning forward and waiting patiently for my answer.

I wanted to slap that smug look right off his face. I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to do a lot of things but just then I felt a sudden pain in the back of my head. And then everything went blank.

"_Chloe? Chloe sweetheart you need to look at me." I smiled at the warmth coming from the voice over me. I was confused. Who could that be? "Honey wake up."_

_I forced myself to open my eyes and I realized instantly that I was dreaming. I was back at the completely blank white room again. And the person from before was still here. She still wasn't in focus but I could make out her smile spread wide on her face. _

"_W-Who are you?" I asked trying to sit up but I couldn't. Something was holding me down…_

_She looked away. "Some question's are better left unanswered, sweetie." When she turned back she reached up to stroke my face. And I felt the warmth come from her hand. I smiled and for the first time realized I was crying. There was no doubt in my mind, I recognized her smooth voice, it was my mom. She made a sh-shing noise rubbing the tears off my face gently. _

_I focused on her, trying to remember the way she moved the way her eyes sparkled, everything. Pulling with my mind to bring her into more focus. _

"_No!" I jumped a bit and looked shocked. "No, sweetie don't. You don't need to do that I'm here."_

"_But I can barely see you." I whined like a child not getting their way._

"_But nothing." She said rather motherly. "I'm here and that's all that matters now right." I bit my lip and nodded. "I've been watching you honey. You've grown so much."_

"_I miss you." I said through the lump in my throat. _

"_I know. But you need to wake up now. There are people who are waiting for you. Elizabeth will be here soon and you'll have a lot of work to do." She smiled. "I'm so proud of you baby. Wake up."_

"_Wake up Chloe, wake up!" I heard my mom's voice morph someone elses._

"Wake up Chloe!" It was liz. I tried to sit up but realized I was strapped to a small hospital bed. I was wearing the same scrubs Reilly was. Speaking of Reilly, I strained my neck to get a better view of the room trying to find her. "Hold still, they've got these knots tighter than-gah!"

"Liz where's Reilly? Where am I?" I said struggling against my restraints.

"She's fine. Your fine if you would just let me-there!" Liz said through her teeth. I sat up too fast and my vision became blurred and my head dizzy. "Careful. Take a deep breath and count to ten."

I felt a slight pang when I tried to move my arm. An IV was taped to my skin. I yanked it out and slowly put my feet on the ground. "I'm okay." I lied, standing up to try and prove it. It took all my control to keep my knees from knocking in together.

I looked over at Liz and smiled. She nodded only half convinced. Reilly trotted over to us, her face a little pale even for a ghostly spirit. "You okay?"

I rubbed the back of my head. "Yea, what happened to me?"

"Enright. Snuck up on you and bibity bobbity boo you're in dream land. Exact thing they did to me." Reilly shook her head and crossed her arms remembering the event. "Next thing I knew I was standing next to my own body and no one could see me. I guess they decided that I'd be an easier test subject if I couldn't complain anymore."

"Yea. Well we need to get out of here." I looked around and noticed that although there were plenty of beds, other than me there was only one other 'living' person. I walked over cautiously and starred at Reilly's still breathing body. "Maybe we should try and get you up." I said looking at her spirit. She shrugged.

"Don't you think I've tried?"

I looked back at the body. Although she looked a bit too thin, her body looked healthy enough. I noticed and IV in her arm, just like the one I had. Only hers was connected to sack of clear liquid.

"I was only able to wake you up after I took the cord out." Liz said next to me.

"Maybe it's a drug." I said touching her skin. "It can't hurt to try." Gently as I could I yanked out the needle and the IV. I messaged the red spot and looked at Reilly's spirit. She was starring at her body, concentrating.

"Nothing. Sorry." She said looking away. That's when I noticed a door behind her. There were two exits one on each end of the room. I walked over to the nearest door and peeked through a convenient window half way up the door. I felt my heart skip a beat. The room a match to the one we were in except there were at least six occupied beds and all of them were covered with a thin blanket. I had seen enough crime movies and TV show's to know that the room was filled with dead bodies.

"Those are accidents. Some of their own and a few unwilling subjects." Reilly said coming next to me.

"I wonder why I haven't seen any of their ghosts…" I said looking away.

"It's got to be the demon thing, right? Didn't you tell me she could process dead spirits?"

"Yea." I nodded and then realized something. I looked around for Liz, she was gone. "Liz?"

She popped through the opposite door. "I was checking to see if someone was coming."

"Is it time? Did they find kit?" I asked, she was supposed to be my signal. She was to follow the others till they found Kit and were on their way. Then come and tell me.

She smiled brightly and then nodded. "When I left they were three hours away. Now I'd say they'll be here in about an hour n a half." I returned her smile, if I could hugged her I would.

"Time to blow the coup. We should start getting the others out." I said clapping my hands together.

"Were going to need to make a distraction." Liz said. "I can't make that much noise though, I may be a ghost but I can only move a few things at a time."

"I've got that under control. We just need to worry about the others, Reilly knows where everyone is. Who's closet Reil-…" I looked around. Her spirit was gone. "Where did she…"

"Chloe."Liz said pointing to Reilly's body. Her eyes were twitching under her closed lids. She was waking up. I went back to her bed and gently shook her shoulder. "The drug takes a moment to wear off, I guess."

She mumbled something and I leaned down to hear. "You can't imagine how much my back and ass hurts." I smiled. When I looked back at her, her eyes were open. "I've got sore's on my sores." She groaned. I helped her sit up, she was much shakier then I had been. "I don't think I'm going to be able to stand up more or lesswalk."

"Don't worry, I'm a pretty good crutch." I said throwing her arm around my shoulders. "It's time."

"_Did I just hear you say it's time?" _the Demon's voice rang through the room. Liz yelped and started to scream and thrash around.

"NO!" I shouted realizing what was happening. "You leave her alone! She's part of the deal!" In an instant, Liz stopped screaming and instead fell on her knees breathing hard.

"_All you needed to say, child. I'm a little too excited for my own good."_ Her voice seemed edgy.

"Good. We're going to rescue the other's who are being held here against their will. My friends are almost here. Are you ready to do what I tell you?" I said keeping my voice steady.

"_Just say the word, child. Freedom has a high price but I am willing to pay anything." _She laughed.

I heaved Reilly off the bed she fumbled forward at first but was able to stay upright. Most her weight was on me. "Okay then." I said and then with my mind I focused on her voice trying to make a face so that I could call her forward. I heard a crackling sound like electric fire spreading across the room. Magic.

"_By my new Mistresses commands, I obey. Let the games begin." _

And with that a loud crack sounded from far off. A scream and an alarm shook the walls around us. "Okay, let's go." I said and Liz opened the door for me and Reilly as we hurried down the hall. Liz was gone, probably to check what had caused all the alarm.

"The first room has three women in it. It's the closest." Reilly said already breathing hard.

"Are you going to be okay?" I said as I took a left.

"Don't worry about me. I'm a survivor. If I can run a marathon…I can run through a whole fricken building." She smiled. Good enough for me. Because whatever was happening at the front of the building was getting louder. "Here it is."

We stopped in front of a door similar to the one that had been my room. I tried the handle but of course it was locked. If I only had a bobby pin.

"_Need some help?" _I heard the demon over my shoulder but when I turned to look there was no one there. "_It's locked with magic. I can help." _The knob started to jiggle on its own and then blasted open, causing the door to almost come un-hinged from the wall.

We poked our heads in. Janet, Aunt Lauren and Leslie jumped to their feet.

"Chloe!" Aunt Lauren screamed running towards me and hugging me. Because Reilly was draped over me still she ended up hugging her too. "Oh Chloe, I told you not to come back for me." She said pulling away, her face littered with tears.

"It's this new habit I've picked up. I've stopped listening to what people tell me to do. And instead do whatever I want. It's actually a lot of fun." I smiled holding back tears. Janet came over and with strength I didn't know her tiny body held she pulled Reilly off me and onto her shoulder.

"So what's the plan?" Leslie said tapping her foot. "Janet here has been mum to this point. Where are my girls?"

"At the back of the building. They have Andrew there too." I said as Aunt Lauren grabbed me for another bone crushing hug now that I was free of Reilly. "Derek, Simon, Tori and Kit are on their way."

We all stepped out of the room. Janet gasped. "How on earth did you manage this, Chloe?" Janet said speaking up. She was looking around like there was something floating in the air only she could see. Lights were starting to flicker. The sirens were getting louder, and a few guards passed down the hallway near us didn't even notice or acknowledge our escape. "These bastards are running for their lives. What did you do?"

"I'd rather take that to my grave, Janet. Let's just take the opportunity to get out of here now." I said a little ashamed. I knew she wouldn't approve. I bet demons weren't high on her list of possible allies. "Okay, this way." I started walking but stopped when I realized someone had noticed us escaping and was blocking our way out.

I held back a curse.

Diana Enright.

_**DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS SERIES **_

_**FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS AWESOME READ AND SUPPORT KELLY ARMSTRONG!**_

_**Allllllmmmmmooooossttt doneeeee I swwwear!**_

_**Review review review review!**_


	18. Chapter 18: Luck

"Where do you think you're going?" She said her smile was wide and frightening. Her hair was coming un-done from her business like bun and her eyes were wide. She was panicking.

I felt something glow in my chest, making me feel confident. Good. I could use that to my advantage.

"I have to say, Chloe. I am impressed." She raised her hand twirling her fingers like there were piano keys under them. She was teasing me; I knew all too well what those fingers were capable of. The thought made my insides restrict. "And it takes a lot to impress me."

"I do my best." I said with a hint of amusement then smiled; she looked taken aback by my reaction. She raised her hand in front of her and started rubbing her fingers preparing to snap them.

"One more chance Chloe. Come with me willing and no one gets hurt." She snarled sweat appearing on her skin.

"You see, Diana, I don't trust you as far as I can throw you." I took a step forward, pushing Aunt Lauren back so I was the one in front, rather Derek like I might add. "Take your best shot." I held my arms out wide. My heart was going a million miles an hour bounding off my rib cage and my chest. I wasn't sure if this was going to work, but I'd rather trust a demon over Enright. That's pretty sad I have to admit but that's the way it is.

She growled, her fingers snapped and echoed through the room. Aunt Lauren grabbed my shoulder to pull me away but I shoved her back again. I waited for the flames to engulf me, I waited for the pain but….nothing happened. I smiled. Her eyes grew frantic. She snapped again. Nothing.

"Losing your touch? How sad." I shook my head and put my hands on my hips. She looked at me furious now. A vein on her forehead was throbbing. It would have been comical if not for the real threat that she was.

"_Don't test your luck, Mistress. Get away from her now." _The demon hissed in my ear. No one else reacted to her voice so I was guessing that I was the only one who could hear her now. _"Get ready to run." _Before she was even finish talking I felt the magic buzz around us making my muscles tense. Its strange how a prolong exposure to magic was allowing me to almost feel when it was being done. Then the ceiling collapsed right over Enright's head. We all scrambled back as she screamed.

"Go! Go! GO!" I shouted turning around and pushing everyone to run. Liz caught up with us. "Liz! Check on Andrew and the girls, see if you can get them out before we get there." She nodded and ran ahead faster than I ever seen a human go. But I guess there were many advantages to being a ghost.

"_Should I go to Mistress?" The demon asked._

Just then we turned a corner and we had to scramble to stop from tripping over three dead bodies. My eye's narrowed looking around even though I knew I wasn't going to see her. "Are you doing this?"

"_It is not I personally, no. The sudden absence of my magic from the fibers of the grounds is causing all this stir. They are killing each other out of pure panic. The struggle for power is seen commonly when a demon's presence is disturbed."_

I shook my head and continued running with the rest of group. It was **my **fault. I had released all this hell on them. But I couldn't think about that now. I had to live in the now and focus on what would get me and my friends out of here, _**ALIVE**_. "Go help Liz then."

"_I obey."_

"Chloe what's going on?" Aunt Lauren said grabbing my arm as we ran.

"Don't worry about it." I said as we took the long complicated way to the back of the building. "Let's get the rest. Then we just have to wait for Derek and Kit to get here. There'll know how to get us out. If we're lucky, we might not even need them."

"Chloe, believe me, were never that lucky." Leslie said helping Janet to keep Reilly running.

All of a sudden we heard gun shots firing from behind us. And bone chilling screams.

"That doesn't sound good." Reilly said her voice trembling a bit.

We were running so frantic we almost missed the door that led to the hallway where we needed to be. Leslie kicked the door open army style and without a second glance we ran through it. Andrew was standing out in the hall looking at the door to his room that was splintered on the ground, confused.

"Andrew!" Janet shouted at him. He turned around and smiled.

"Good! Good!" He said as everyone crowded around him. Just as he said it the door next to him banged opened and flew off its hinges. Liz, Olivia and Eva ran out. O and Eva caught sight of their mom and ran to her. Andrew starred at the door on the floor. "Do I even want to know?" He said not asking anyone. He looked at Janet who shrugged her shoulders. That's when he noticed Reilly hanging off of Janet. "Let me do that." He said grabbing Reilly and holding her like a groom carries his new bride.

"I'm rather getting sick of being treated like a damn rag doll." Reilly hissed but didn't object to Andrew carrying her.

More shots fired behind us. Liz started to leave to check it out when I stopped her. "How long till they get here?"

Liz looked into the nearest room which had a clock on the wall. "Any minute." She said. "Time just flies when you're running for your life." I nodded and she went to check ahead.

"Okay." Andrew said when I turned back and repeated what Liz had said. "We need to find an exit. I didn't see any when they brought us in."

"The only exit is the front door." Reilly said from his arms. "And that's where all the guards are going to be."

"Can't we make our own exit?" I asked looking at the walls. They couldn't be that thick, could they?

"Maybe a master wizard or witch could. But knowing the Edison group they'll have powerful defensive spells ups. We would need a good handful to be able to break through." He said looking hard at the walls. "Maybe when Tori, Simon and Kit get here we'll be able to try." I nodded. Until then we needed to stay hidden.

"Chloe!" Liz shouted coming towards me from the hall ahead of us. "Davidoff is coming. He has a gun."

I looked at her and took a deep breath. "Reilly, you said there was an empty part of the building that's used for storage near here? Take them there." I started to walk towards the hall cautiously.

"No, where do you think you're going?"Aunt Lauren shouted at me. I grabbed her hand.

"I'm making a diversion. Are you coming?" I said looking back at her my face full of confidence. Underneath though I was all a mess but there was no way I was going to let her see that. Slowly she smiled and her grip tightened. We ran down the hall before anyone could stop us. We stopped when we heard Davidoff barking orders. I looked at her and nodded down the hall. If we ran straight ahead we'd be able to get Davidoff's attention and get him running the wrong way. "One, two, THREE!"

We ran as fast as we could, speeding away. I heard Davidoff shout at us and we turned down another hall. It took only a second to realize that had been the wrong idea. It was a dead end. _Smart Chloe, real smart, _ I could almost hear Tori's mocking voice in my head. We turned around to try and go back, but it was too late. Davidoff had his gun pointed at us and there was nowhere for us to hide.

We raised our hands above our heads.

"Good girls." He smiled. He slowly came into the light and he looked worse than Enright had. "Now where are all the others?"

"No clue." I said glaring at him. "Lost track of them."

"No more lying Chloe. No more. Now be a good little girl and come with me." He growled. Me and Lauren started to ease forward but his gun shifted to Lauren. "No Lauren. I think you've over stayed your welcome. You don't have any more value to us." His hand that was holding up the gun was shaking.

"No way." I said moving to stand in front of her. Aunt Lauren stopped me and pushed me ahead.

"No sweetie." She said her eyes wide. I looked at her confused when Davidoff grabbed me by the upper arm and pulled me away from her. I struggled against him but he yanked my arm hard and held the gun to Aunt Lauren's head. "I'm sorry sweetie. But I can't lose you too." She smiled.

"That's right. You still have value Chloe. You should feel Lucky. Even though you are more trouble than your worth…that worth is something we can't afford to lose willing." His grip on my arm was painful. It was the same one that I had cut escaping last time. I knew if I got out of this alive I'd have a few knew bruises there to add to my growing collection. "I'm sorry about this Lauren. But we can't afford to have any dead weight."

I was ready to kick him where it counts when I heard the demon whisper in my ear. I was confused by her hurried command but didn't hesitate. I yanked as hard as I could and Davidoff's grip slipped but not before pulling so hard my shoulder dislocated. The pain was so much I could see red spots. But I didn't stop no matter how much the pain was, I jump forward and tackled Lauren, football style, and knocked her to the ground. At the same time I heard a menacing growl coming from behind us.

Davidoff's gun went off, but missed us. I looked back in time and saw a giant wolf launch itself on Davidoff. He fur was black and I thought for a moment that it was Derek but then I noticed one of his feet had a white patch on it, like he was wearing one sock. Then I saw his eyes were golden. _William._

Davidoff screamed in horror as the wolf's already bloody fangs went down on his throat. I looked away. Sweat was pouring off my face as I gripped my arm. Biting my tongue to stop from screaming. The noises behind me weren't helping either. Horror movies tried their hardest today to make realistic looking gore and the actors put their heart and wallets into making their performance seem genuine. I had seen people in movies with a dislocated shoulder, but damn they weren't even close to the real thing.

When I looked back, William was inching towards me his ears down and his tail wagging. He whined, I could tell he was trying to make me less afraid of him. Like I hadn't just seen or at least heard him maul a man. I didn't look back at Davidoff, but I couldn't hear him breathing either. I had to remember that he was only protecting me, Davidoff would have killed Aunt Lauren and I would've died trying to get away.

Lauren sat up slowly her eyes wide as she looked at the wolf in front of her. I didn't need a superhuman noise to tell how terrified she was.

"T-t-this is William, Lauren. H-He's on our side." I said tears starting to come to my eyes. Damn this hurt. I didn't know how much longer I could hold the pain back. William whined and sniffed at my shoulder. Then he grunted stepping back and looking behind him. I heard it to. Hurried footsteps.

I looked around him and let out a sigh. Thank Jesus. It was Derek.

"Chloe!" He shouted as he caught up to us. He fell to his knees sliding on the floor and held my head up. "What's wrong? Where are you hurt?"

"M-my shoulder. It's dislocated." I said touching his hand. I felt my lip tremble. I didn't have to hide my fear anymore. Derek was here, he would know what to do.

"Damn!" he cursed gingerly touching it.

"You hold her down." Lauren said pushing him behind her. "I'll pop it back."

"This is going to hurt, Chloe." Derek said pulling me up to him, one arm around my waist and another under my other arm like a wrestler would do. And without any warning, Lauren popped it back. He was right it did hurt. I let out a small shriek. But the moment it was back in place, the throbbing dulled and it wasn't horrible. I could deal with it now. I took a few deep breaths. I felt Derek's hot breath on top of my head. The hand on my waist tightened and I felt him kiss the back of my head.

"I'm okay. Okay…" I mumbled. Lauren nodded but I could tell that something was worrying her. Derek pulled me up onto my feet. His arm still tight around my waist. "We've got to go help the others."

"Yea." Lauren said looking from Derek to William. "With Enright and Davidoff out of the picture we shouldn't have much more trouble. I'll go ahead." She reached down and recovered the fallen gun. "If you hear three shots straight in a row, I'm in trouble." She looked at Derek and they had an unspoken agreement because they both nodded. Then she ran off.

William growled, coming up to my hand. I scratched behind his ear. "Could you watch her back, please…" I asked him. He whined.

"I'll take care of her. You can go watch Lauren." Derek said above my head. William snorted showing his fangs for a second before racing after her. Derek took this moment to wrap both of his arms around me and hold me closer avoiding from putting pressure on my hurt shoulder. I gingerly held my arm around my side to avoid hurting him. "Don't you ever do that to me again."

"Sorry. But I didn't want to run anymore, I made a promise that I didn't want to break." I said touching his hand on my waist. He growled but grabbed my good hand breaking the embrace and pulling me cautiously towards the end of the hall. He poked his head out.

"Everyone else is on the other side of the building." He whispered. "Where are Andrew and the others?"

"At the end of the building. There's an abandoned part that they rarely use anymore." I said clinging to his arm.

He grunted nodding his head. "We can take a short cut if we go around."

"How do you know?"

"I lived here for the first six years of my life. Remember." He said glancing back at me.

"Oh yea."

We made our way as stealthily as we could down the corridors. _"Mistress, I can only be in one place at time. Do you want me to continue following you or go and help your little friends?"_

"Are they in trouble?" I whispered, Derek looked back at me confused.

"_I won't know until I go there, now will I?"_

"Yes then, go help them."

"_As my mistress commands."_

"Liz?" Derek asked.

"Yup." I lied. His eyes narrowed, I knew he could tell I was lying. Apparently I wasn't that good of an actress.

The lights turned off above our heads. That's when I heard a familiar clicking sound starting from behind us. The clicking of expensive high heels…. _"It's Enright."_ I whispered as quietly as I could. He looked for an escape route. He nodded towards the door at the end of the hall. We hurried to the door and closed it behind us. The clicking continued, the irregularity told me she was walking with a limp.

We started through the room before I realized we were in the morgue. I had a sudden chill come over me. And then a blast of Ghosts started to appear surrounding me. All of them seemed faceless for a reason. Like they couldn't remember what they looked like when they were alive.

They were angry, and no one around could hear them. Except me. It was like they were all screaming at once, I tried to cover my ears but my hurt arm wouldn't let me. They wanted me to help them, and some were so angry that they wanted to hurt me. It was becoming hard to breathe. There were too many of them and they were bombarding me with their pain…their anger…Derek felt it too. He wrapped his arm around me protectively, ready to fight enemies he couldn't see. We were both on such an edge that we forgot the reason to why we were hiding.

The door behind us opened and we spun around.

"Well well, if it isn't the abandoned mutt who has found his way home at last." Enright mocked. Her hair had completely come out of its bun and was a tangled mess around her shoulders. There was blood dripping down her face from her forehead. Her eyes were wide, but not with fear of anger this time. She had lost it. She had gone completely mad. "And Chloe dear! What a pleasure to see you again!" She laughed putting all her weight on the wrong leg and stumbling a bit before catching herself. "A pleasure indeed! Now I don't know how you did that little trick…trick yes…it must've been. A very nice one dear, but you're not getting away from me this time." She said her hand flew up to fling hair out of her face.

Derek pushed me behind him.

_**DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS**_

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	19. Chapter 19: Reunions

"O of course. The Valiant wolf comes to the little damsel's aid." She flung her wrist to her forehead, like a melodramatic actress would. "How very Romantic!" She straightened up and almost instantly all the laughter in her face was gone. "You remember the pain don't you Chloe. Of what I can do…."

I bit my lip. I knew. Derek growled.

"Let's see," She said rolling her head to one side and then back like a snake about to snap at the hand in front of it, "if that little _trick _of yours works on your boyfriend here, hmn?" And she snapped her fingers. And Derek let out a scream that rattled my bones. He grabbed his head in pain and was forced down on one knee. I grabbed his arm but he was shaking too much. His back was arching and I could see his spin visible under his baggy sweater. If I didn't stop soon, Derek was going to be forced to change I was almost certain this time he wouldn't know who or where he was. He would be a wolf; a scared and desperate animal that's only instinct would be its own survival.

"STOP IT!" I screamed at her. "YOU CAN HAVE ME! DAMN IT! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" I needed to save Derek. From himself and her. The demon wasn't here this time to protect us. I wasn't sure how to call her and I knew that she wouldn't get here in time. Enright smiled, her lips twitching.

"Now dear, why would I do that? When I can have both of you?" She shrieked over Derek's screams.

Anger was rising inside me. I could feel it bubbling in my stomach and shooting through my veins. Adrenaline. I didn't have super strength or smell like Derek. I couldn't turn into a powerful animal and save the day. I couldn't shoot sparks from my finger tips like Tori or do spells like Simon. But I wasn't completely useless either.

"Stop her." I whispered, but even that I could feel the power and menace in my voice. Enright's eyebrow rose high on her forehead. My necklace was hot on my skin. "Do it." Then she noticed where she was, she saw the slight twitch of the bodies under the blankets from the corner of her eye. Her mad smile was gone in an instant. Her face lost all color and her dropped concentration caused the spell on Derek to disappear. His breath came in short panic raspy gasps.

I helped him to his feet. Which was difficult, seeing how I only had one useable arm. He looked at me. His eyes were bright green; the wolf must be close to the surface. I ushered him toward the other door opposite Enright. He looked around confused at Enright's terror which was so evident I swear I could even smell the change, but once he saw a naked and bruised pair of legs swing off the nearest bed shortly followed by its upper torso. Without an explanation, he grabbed me by the elbow and rushed me through the door.

Enright turned to run through the door behind her but it swung shut. She grabbed the door knob and was thrown of her feet from some un-seen force knocked into the center of the room. That's when I saw Tori peek through the little window in the door. Her eyes were blank, but her mind was set. Enright sat up. "V-v-victoria?" She squeaked. "They told me you were dead, my little baby. T-t-tori help me…" She got to her knees, begging. Tori tilted her head and closed her eyes before turning her back to the door.

Derek grabbed me and pulled me away from the door when Enright screamed. Derek pulled me close and I tried to burry myself in his chest to cover up her screams. And that's how we waited till Enright's screams died away along with her. It was horrible. How many people had I been responsible for killing today? How many more ghost would haunt me. I found comfort in knowing that at least one good thing came from all this. The wicked witch of the Edison Group was gone. She couldn't hurt anyone anymore. And we were finally safe from them.

"Chloe. Let them go." Derek said in my ear. "They've done enough."

I nodded against his chest, closing my eyes and concentrating. First in releasing them from their dead bodies and then again from the mortal world. I wanted them to be at peace, all the hell they went through under Enright's hand when they were alive and then the pain I had forced them to endure while they were dead. I knew it would take a bit longer, but I stretched my consciousness as far as it would go and pushed the remaining ghost's away as well. I think I was my imagination playing tricks on me, but I swear I heard Enright and Davidoff scream their final threats over me….and then silence….

I took a deep breath when I thought it was all over, I hadn't realized I had been holding my breath the entire time. Derek patted me on the head.

"Good girl."

"Are you hurt?" I asked pushing away from him. His eye's still shined but his muscles weren't as tense.

"What? Me? No, that was a cake walk I'm getting use to changing, believe me." I could feel an edge to his voice that told me he was lying. I guess he could tell I was lying just about as good as I could him. The door to the hallway swung open, making both of us jump. It was Jason.

"If you two are done with your moment," Jason said his normal goofy smile replaced with determination, "could we please get a move on it. Dangerous and deadly rescue mission remember?"

We ran out of the room. "Where have you been?"

Jason patted me on the back, "took matters into my own hands. I'm sorry to hear about Doug; maybe if I stayed I could've helped."

"But then we wouldn't have found dad fast enough." Derek said, "You were right, we need to take action instead of waiting."

Just then Tori ran towards us from the end of the hall. Her eyes were still blank but she smiled when she saw me. "You two okay I hope." She asked emotionless.

"Yea…You?" I said walking over to her.

"I'll be right as rain, once we get the hell out of here." She said I nodded about to walk pass her when she grabbed me. Hugging me tight, "I'm glad you're okay." She whispered. She was squeezing my hurt shoulder but I bit back the pain. Then the hug was over before I knew it and she was walking down the hall.

A man stepped out ahead of her. I recognized him the moment I saw him even though we never had met. Kit touched her shoulder gently as she passed by, mumbling something I couldn't hear. She nodded and hugged him tightly. He looked up at me. "Where are the others?"

"Reilly was leading them to a hid-out at the end of the building." I said as we all walked up to him. He looked like an older versions of Simon except his hair which was chestnut brown rather than blond. He smiled at me and then at the sight of Derek he grabbed his shoulder like a father would do. Tori still clinging to his shirt.

"Reilly!" Jason said stepping in front of me. "Reilly Jones? Blonde, short temper, with a sailor's mouth and a bunch of tattoos?"

I nodded smiling at him. "She's with Andrew; did you know she was a Shaman?" I asked.

"Show us the way." Kit said over Jason. I grabbed Derek by the hand and started to lead the way, my walk turning into a run.

"I knew her Granddad was, I wasn't sure if it was passed down to her or not." Jason said keeping step with me. Something new in his voice. "She's okay though, right?"

"A little shaken and weak, but nothing a good triple cheeseburger and long rest won't fix."

He let out a sigh of relief.

"Chloe!" We all jumped. It was Aunt Lauren and William. We didn't have time to stop so she caught up to me and noticed the fresh tear stains on my face. "What happened?" She asked worried her gaze shifting to Derek for a second.

"Enright wasn't dead." I said still looking ahead. "But she is now."

Lauren looked like she wanted to ask more questions but once caught a look at Tori's solemn face she bit her tongue and nodded instead. She looked back at Kit who was at the back of the pack, "the place is empty, except for bodies. What ever happened here tore through these people with a vengeance. I think the entrance still might have some guards waiting to see what comes out. It'll be better if we blow a whole though the wall like Andrew planned."

Kit sighed. "I'm pretty sure we've got enough fire power to do that. Did you see Simon?" Kit asked worried. "He went off on his own before I could stop him."

"Yea I pointed him towards where everyone was hiding. The way was clear, he should be fine." She said as we rounded a corner. It took us five more minutes to maneuver our way through the crumbling building. Not once did we come across any live guards. Plenty of dead ones though. This was all because of me and what I released. I bit my lip and forced the thought from my head.

"Were here." Derek mumbled from above my shoulder pushing ahead and taking lead. I guess his nose beat my second hand instructions any day.

We all slowed our pace. Cautiously looking through the shadows. Derek pointed us towards an unmarked room; he must have been able to smell everyone coming from there. Just then Simon's head poked out from around a corner.

"Speak of the devil." Tori said.

"What were you looking for me? You wouldn't believe it. We got cornered by three guys with guns, they tried to shoot at us but all their bullets were duds! All of them." Simon smiled, he saw me and winked. I ran towards him and flung my arms around his neck. "What was that for?"

"I'm just glad your okay, idiot." I snapped at him.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Good enough for me." And he hugged me back.

"Kit!" Leslie ran out from the big storage room and very un-Leslie she hugged Kit the same way I had Simon. Although her arm was still in a sling so she did one handed. "Thank heavens you're alive." We all hurried into the room after that.

Andrew was closest to us his head down. When we came through the door he looked up and smiled. "Took you long enough, Damn it." And he held out his hand to Kit.

"Sorry, you know I'm terrible with dates." Kit laughed and then his face became more serious. "Thanks for everything Drew. Thanks for watching my kids."

"Anytime old pal." Andrew smiled something caught in his throat. It was a very good reunion all around. I watched Jason run forward and sweep a once sitting Reilly off her feet. She squealed like a school girl and yet at the same time swearing at him for being late. Tori was being hugged by both Eva and Olivia. She struggled against them but I could tell by her bright eyes that she was happy they were okay. I wonder when they started to be so close.

Janet came over to me her face really stern. I starred her down, ready for her to tell me off for teaming up with a demon.

"Good job, Chloe." She finally said, holding out her hand out for me to shake. Hesitantly I took it. "I have to say, you're doing pretty damn marvelous for four out of control teenage misfits. If I knew better I'd even say that you're more special then you let on."

"I…I take that as a compliment Janet." I smiled at her, she nodded satisfied.

Aunt Lauren squeezed my good shoulder. I looked around at her and smiled. "I think it's time we get out here, no offense to anyone, but the cheery reunions can wait till were out of this damn prison."

"Good point." Kit laughed. "Simon. Tori. Jason and Andrew. A little help here?" He gestured to the wall.

The five magic wielders all walked to the back wall and spread each other out evenly. They all placed a hand on the wall and the sudden wave of magic was enough that it made me step back into Derek. Derek smiled and placed his hand on my waist. His hand was warm, making my stomach do a flip. I could tell though, the amount of magic was effecting him to; his touch was more protective then gentle.

"_Are all your friends accounted for?" _The Demon hissed from behind me. I looked knowing nothing would be there still.

"What did they do to Rae?" I whispered.

"She escaped. Her mother is a wild woman at the best of times. I heard her screams from my locked room." Lauren was the one to answer me, not knowing that I wasn't asking her.

"_It is true, the young half-ling escaped with her mother not too long ago. They made it out without a single scratch. I must admit, I marvel at such dedication."_

Just then a bright light erupted and threw the thick wall outwards and the natural sunlight shone in bright.

We were free. I smiled quickly turning around and running with everyone out of that damned building. Simon let out a hoot. Once we were far enough away we all turned to look at the crumbling building again.

Derek's hand was still on my waist, I grabbed it and squeezed. It had worked.

"_Mistress, shall I end it now?" _The Demon whispered in my ear. I nodded. And the moment I did the whole building collapsed on itself with a defining crash. Andrew swore looking back shocked at the rubble. Smoke rose from the dust and to the sky. _"It has been an honor working with you child. But by the terms stated by you, my services are no longer needed. Till we meet again, my little Necromancer…." _I felt a strange weight lift from me making the air easier to breath. I shivered. The last few of her words had felt more like a warning then a goodbye.

I shook it off as Kit ushered us down the road where Jeff was waiting with three cars. He smiled wide when he saw us coming, he ran to his son and Reilly who hugged him like he was her dad. Leslie and the girls got into the first car; Janet paused before grabbing Andrew's hand and tugging him into the backseat. They waved as they took off leaving a trail of dust behind them.

"Heads up!" Jason shouted tossing his van's keys to Kit. "Take care of my baby, Kit, or it **will** be your head!" He threatened before half carrying Reilly to the other car. Kit smiled before turning to the beat up van and getting into the driver's seat.

"Come on kids!" Lauren called from shotgun. Simon slapped Derek on the back and him and Tori got in the van.

I stayed where I was with Derek who was looking at the raising smoke off in the distance.

"Do you think it's over?" He asked me.

I put my head on his shoulder. "No. But it will be easier I think now."

William, who I hadn't noticed for awhile, growled at Derek's side. Derek flicked his black ear with his hand.

"You two are getting close, I see." I giggled reaching over and scratching the black wolf behind the ear. Funny how I was terrified of him in his human form, but as wolf he was just a giant puppy dog. With huge fang's I might add. William closed his eyes and he leaned into my touch. Ha. I guess I'm just a dog person, I silently laughed at my own joke. "I thought he was you when I first saw him." I said remembering the chilling encounter. "I'm kinda glad it wasn't…."

Derek shrugged his shoulders. "Family resemblance I guess…"

My head jerked up, shocked and confused.

"I just found out too." He said rubbing his neck, "Dad told me when we found him. He's my uncle, apparently, on my biological dad's side. He's been obsessed with his brother's disappearance for seventeen years. It seems the Edison group put an end to him a long time ago. Apparently I look just like him. " He looked down at the big black wolf. "That's why he wouldn't leave me the hell alone. Stubborn old dog." Derek growled.

William snorted loudly before licking my hand and taking a step back. He bowed his head, rather noble like which had to be an accomplishment with four legs and with a big wagging tale. Then without warning he darted off away into the woods. I had a feeling we hadn't seen the last of one William G. Tripp. The thought made me smile ear to ear.

"Lets go." Derek said pulling me into the van, once William disappeared, and into the back seat.

"Where too?" Simon said as the van started up. He put his arm over the seat so he could look at us in the way back.

"I don't know about you," Tori said stretching in her limited space, "But I say we get the hell out of Dodge and _**never come back**_."

"Well said Victoria." Kit smiled in the review mirror and stepped on the gas. I sighed tired, and put my head on Derek's shoulder. He patted my hair and leaned down to kiss my forehead.

"Chloe I-." Lauren started her head turned in her seat, but I held up a hand and stopped her.

"Not now, please. If you've got a beef with me call pops. He'll tell you what a well rounded boy Derek is besides the whole turning into a wolf thing." I smiled at her. She glared back at me. I'd have it my way in the end. I knew it and she knew it. When she continued to stare at me I smiled and then stuck my tongue out.

"I guess I'm going to have to get use to this new Chloe." She said finally smiling at me.

"Believe me," Tori laughed, leaning towards her before I could answer, "The new Chloe is much less boring." That got Simon laughing. Even Derek chuckled and I elbowed him as hard as I could in the ribs to no effect.

And that's how our brilliant escape plan ended. The Edison group was nothing but ash now, and everyone had made it out alive. We had won.

We were laughing together. We were staying together.

Derek's hand found mine and we held hands the whole trip. If I had it my way we would never let go again.

_**DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS!**_

_**All that's left is the epilogue. I hope you liked it. I'm sorry if it feels a little rushed.**_

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	20. Chapter 20 :Epilogue

I sat there thinking to myself that this was true torture; being integrated by a psycho Witch had nothing on Calculus. The problems on the board were like a foreign language to me. The teacher was mumbling something but I was too far off in dream land to even understand him. You know you're bored when you're wishing you were fighting an army of evil scientist rather than take one more second of math.

I sighed. Maybe it was because it's the last class of the day.

Just then I heard the teacher swear under his breath as he was rummaging through one of his cabinets. "I'm sorry class; it seems my aid took your tests with him. I'll be back in a couple minutes, start your homework and we'll go over your tests when I get back."

The minute the door shut behind him every one in the class room turned to their friends and automatically started talking about their weekend plans. Except me, I could already hear Aunt Lauren complaining when I got home to do my homework. I knew I should get a start on it now. I pulled out my notebook and starred at problem number one for five minutes. My fake glasses slid down my nose, I jammed them back in place, I hated these damn things but I guess they worked for Superman.

Then I felt someone starring at me. My back tensed. Slowly I lifted my head up to nonchalantly tuck my new found long black hair behind my ear. It was the girl in front of me, she had thick red curly hair and so many freckles her skin looked orange. She smiled when we made eye contact.

"You're the new girl right? Chloe Blake?"

"Yea." I smiled back at her friendly. I was so use to lying now that Simon had even suggested that I'd make a better actress than a director or producer.

"I'm Jade. This is Allison, and that's Meghan." She pointed to the girls in the desk surrounding me. Allison had long black hair like me but she had it tied back in a ponytail and Meghan had short brown hair that hung in her brown eyes. They all smiled widely at me. "We noticed you're very shy. Thought we try and make friends."

"Nice to meet you." I said openly. "I wouldn't say I'm shy," I said rolling my pencil in between my fingers. "I'm just quiet. Moving is a lot of stress, you know."

"Where did you move from?" Meghan asked me.

"Europe." I smiled as they looked at me shocked.

"What made you come to such a little town in No where's Ville Missouri?" Allison laughed.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I live with my Aunt, and she's works for the Military so we move a lot. I'm use to it, I suppose." I said leaning back in my chair.

"Cool." Allison said resting her face on her hands. "It must be cool to see so many places. You must not have a lot of friends though, if you're always moving."

"Well yes and no. I still email some of them." I smiled. Not true. Normally when we left a place we didn't have time to explain why. One minute we're there the next we were gone. Leaving no trace behind.

"Well you're in luck then, Chloe!" Jade said completely turning around in her chair and putting her hands on my desk rather confident. "We're going to make your stay here, no matter how short it may be a fantastic one! First off, there's a dance this weekend and were all going." She smiled wide. "Were going to have a sleepover tomorrow night to do a makeover makeup trial run, you'll love it."

I gave her a nervous smile. Tori was more into that kind of thing then me. "That's not really necess-."

"Do you own a nice dress? If not I've got a bunch and you look about my size. My mom likes pageants." Meghan said moving her chair closer to mine. "Your hair is so soft." She said reaching over and patting my hair. "We can try curling it; I bet that would look really nice."

"Oh, but we'll have to find you a date, cause we all have one. Is there anyone here you like?" Jade asked. I blushed at her.

"W-well no but I alr-."

"Well I guess you haven't been here long enough. But you're really pretty I'm surprised no one has come up and asked you yet." Allison looked around. "Oh, how about Jamie?" She said pointing to a boy across the room that was in a football jersey. "He's real cute isn't he?"

I smiled. "We'll yea but he's not really my type and… I already have a boyfriend." They looked at me, and I started to blush even more.

"Is he in Europe? Is it one of those long distant relationships?" Jade asked curious now.

"No, he moved with us. His father works with my Aunt. They've been best friends since they were toddlers so they always find a way to stay together. So his family moved here with us."

"Wow…" Allison said. "Talk about commitment. Does he go here?"

"Yea."

"I want to meet him, what's his name?" Jade said excited.

"Derek Tripp." I said drawing circles with my pencil and not looking at her.

"Oh! Is it that Asian looking boy with the blond hair? He's cute!" Meghan said grabbing my arm.

"No, that's Simon. His brother, Derek's a bit older." I smiled thinking how Simon would've loved to be here. "He's got a sister too, Victoria she's in our grade."

"Cool!" Allison said excited. "Then you'll all set! The dance is going to be so much fun!"

"I don't think he'll want to go-." I started but the bell rang and drained out the rest of the sentence. Our teacher had barely got in the door when it rang.

"Ok! Ok, do problems 1-28 on lesson 3. We'll have to move the review to another day." No one really heard him as they scrambled around him and out the door ready to get the hell out of there. Jade, Meghan and Allison literally attached themselves to me and walked with me down the hall. We talked as we went to each one of ours lockers one at a time. They asked me a whole lot of questions like what my favorite kind of music was, my favorite movies, and celebrities. I smiled. I had gone through this countless times already; the past few years I had gone to so many schools, and changed my identity so many times I was surprised I could remember my real name.

I smiled and recited my pre scripted likes and dislikes. Playing my role like the good little actress I was. My locker turned out to be the last stop. We were still a good distance away when I saw Derek was there waiting for me. Leaning against the wall next to it, he smiled his eyes growing soft when he saw me. I heard Jade giggle and she ran her fingers through her hair making sure it looked good.

I sighed before letting out a small laugh. They waited a bit away like we had been doing when one of us had been getting their backpacks out of their lockers. I trotted up to him and hugged him. He patted my head before kissing it. "What took you so long?" He mumbled.

"I've somehow have found myself with some new friends. And…" I looked back at them as I opened my locker and they all were eyeing him with bright eyes. "It seems you've found a new fan club." He laughed, reaching in my locker to grab my backpack before I could. As I was stuffing my Calculus books into my bag he looked at the three girls behind me and winked at them. I jammed him in the ribs. "Just because all the girls are making goo goo eyes at you doesn't mean you can be so cocky."

"I know, I just like teasing you." He chuckled shutting my locker door. "I have to admit, it's fun." I introduced all of them before we left the school.

We stopped at the exit to the parking lot. "Where's Simon and Tori?" Derek asked looking around.

"Well, see you tomorrow Chloe!" Jade said as she walked away home.

"Yea, bye Chloe. Bye Derek." Allison and Meghan laughed.

Derek smiled and waved. I smiled up at him. These past years had helped him become warmer towards others. At least he didn't grouch 24 seven anymore, he knew how to play his part too. I buried my face in his shirt. He still wore baggy shirts which was a crime considering how good he looked without one. I even tried to throw out all his sweatshirts once just so he'd be forced to wear a tight t-shirt or two. He always thwarted my evil plans though. That manipulative bastard.

"You ok?" He asked worried.

"M'fine." I said through his shirt.

"Hmm really?" He said wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I wrapped my arms around his waist and hooked my thumbs in two of his back belt loops.

"I guess I'm just stressed from acting normal all day." I chuckled. Normal was over stretching it. There were at least two ghosts on the school grounds. One was a little old lunch lady from the fifties who could care less that I could see her. And the other was a seventeen year old boy who had died in a car wreck. Whenever I saw him he was playing soccer alone and without a ball on the school's football field. The past two years had taught me control and patience. I knew how to deal finally with seeing dead people. The tragedy still hit me some times but I always had Derek, Simon and Tori to help me over come occasional panic attacks.

"I can sympathize; being normal can be hard on the nerves." He said running his hand through my hair. Did I mention how I love his hands in my hair? Well I did. "I heard your dad called you yesterday. Is he doing okay?"

"Yup." My dad was keeping a good distance from me. It was for the best even though I knew that it worried him being so far away. He emailed me and called every now a then to check up on me. Hopefully soon we could see each other, maybe when he finally got enough vacation time.

"Good."

"Hey there lovebirds." Simon shouted coming out of the school doors, Tori right behind him. We didn't separate till they caught up to us. "How was your day?"

"Good, made friends, learned valuable lessons that will help me prosper in life. You know the usual. " Derek said scratching his neck.

"Ha I hear ya." Simon laughed making his way towards our new house. Derek and him walked ahead of me and Tori who wanted to talk just to me.

"I think I'm going to stay with you and Lauren for a while. Those two idiots are driving me crazy!" She said rubbing her forehead. I guess no one adjusted to having two teenage brothers, no matter how long the fact had to sink in.

"Brothers will be brothers." I laughed. "You're welcome to stay in my room for a while, if you want."

"Yea right, the couch sounds just fine. " Tori said smiling and rolling her eyes. "Are you going to the dance? I just got asked out by a football player. Four days at this school and the boy's are all over me."

"O boy, you hit the jackpot. But isn't it a little early to jump on social bandwagon here? Maybe we should pace ourselves."I teased.

"Hell no! We've got a good six months before we have to uproot and disappear; I'm going to enjoy myself. And it gives me an excuse to make Kit buy me new cloths. Want to go dress shopping together?" Tori laughed pushing me playfully.

"I don't think so. I'm pretty sure Derek isn't in a dancing mood; I think he's pushing his chances now. He might need to change soon." I said smiling.

"Poor bloke." Tori sighed. "All we have to do is worry about being irritable for one week every month. He's got to worry about ripping out of his skin, growing a tail and walking on all fours. Must be hell."

I didn't answer her. I just starred at Derek's back as him and Simon joked around. I knew he could hear everything we were saying, but he acted like he couldn't. He had gotten use to turning furry every month. He told me though; the pain was something he could never get use to. Tori noticed the change in my mood almost instantly. We had been through so much together, even though Tori still acted like she didn't like me. Me and her were closer than if we had been real sisters.

"We'll see you at dinner then!" Tori laughed running forward and slapping Derek on the back hard before grabbing Simon by the backpack and dragging him away. Derek stopped to watch Simon kick and shout.

"Leave me alone, woman!" Simon screamed as Tori rushed him away down the country lane.

Derek looked back at me one of his eyebrows cocked. I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders.

"I think I saw an Ice Cream shop down the road when we drove up here. Hungry?" Derek asked. I ran up and grabbed his hand smiling.

"If you're paying? Starving."

"So what do you think of Missouri so far?" I asked him licking my vanilla ice cream cone. I know I'm plain like that.

"It's okay." He said already on his second fudge bar.

"The school?" I said ready to hand him another bar.

"Hmm? It's okay, if you don't put into account the fact that I'm smarter than half the teachers." He chuckled. Tossing the Popsicle stick in the trash next to him and taking the one in my hand and opening it. "But maybe it's just me."

"Yea maybe." I smiled. "Soo…" I played with words in my head. Trying to test them out, but they all seemed silly I didn't know how to put it.

"_**Soo **_what?" He smiled leaning forward.

"If you're not busy this weekend do you want go Dancing? Tori is going and I bet Simon is too." The words came out in a rush that I hadn't intended to do.

"Dancing? Are you asking me to the school dance? Isn't that what the guy does?" He asked looking at me with a smug look on his face. I shrugged. "Doesn't a school dance just seem _**too**_ normal for us?" He said looking at his Ice Cream bar thinking. "Hmm, It does seem that we never have time for the school stuff. I don't think we've ever been able to have the luxury of planning on dances. It seems that our moving always coincides with them … what the hell, it'll be worth it to see you in a dress."

I blushed at him. He raised an eye brow.

"It's weird," He mused, "How only a short time ago we were battling witches, wizards, half demons and werewolves. And now were sitting here eating ice cream after a long day at a cornfield high school."

"It's a hard price being supernatural." I smiled leaning my head on his shoulder. "But you know what?"

"What?"

"All that we've been through, from the very beginning at the Lyle house, to now in cornfield Missouri. All the pain and fear, all of it…" I said looking up at him.

"Yea?" He said already understanding where I was going and reached up and took my fake glasses off. I got up on my tip toes to wrap my free hand around his neck. He leaned in to kiss me but I was too quick for him and I jammed what was left of my ice cream cone in nose and mouth. He laughed as I tried to help him get it all off his face. Of course I got too close so he was able to kiss me like he had intended, although his face was now all sticky.

"I wouldn't change it for the world." I laughed.

We were all safe, Rae and her mom, me and Aunt Lauren, Derek, Simon, Tori and Kit. It had taken a lot effort and scarifies for me learn what I really needed in life. What I was truly missing were these people, this family, and this life. My father was safe and he still loved me, but not just me, the **new** me.

All the friends we had were safe and happy. As a matter of fact Reilly and Jason's wedding was two months away. If they didn't change their minds and elope to Vegas by that time anyway. Which was more likely, in my opinion. Leslie and the girls were doing just fine in Europe with their grandmother. Andrew and Janet seemed to always be together in some odd place or another. The last postcard we had gotten from them was from the Himalayas.

William came and visited whenever he was in town. Derek had told me that the offer still stood to join the pack. Also that he had immunity to attacks from other wolf packs because of his relation to him. Derek confided in me that he might take William up on his offer after he finished school. And I confided in him that if he left I would hunt him down. He'd just smiled and said, _"No way would I leave you behind, anyway." _

But it was as perfect as our supernatural lives could be. I had my family and friends, the perfect guy and a life of adventure and excitement. Every day was filled with new possibilities. And like I had said;

_I wouldn't have it any other way._

**DO NOT OWN DARKEST POWERS**

_**I wasn't going to upload this and just end it with ch.19 but a friend of mine who read it told me it completed the story better. And I just like the fact of Chloe thinking that Calculus was more painful than real torture. WHICH IT IS!**_

_**Anyway,**_

_***Cue Looney-Toon's theme song* **_

**D-D-D-Dats all FOLKS!**

**Thanks soo much for reading!**


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